


I Want Your Bite

by The_Concierge_Of_Crime



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Allusions Of Sexual Assault/Rape, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Explicit Sexual Relations, F/M, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Possessive Behaviour, Possible Triggering Backstories, Sometimes Extreme Violence, bad language, some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 08:34:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 181,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8659939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Concierge_Of_Crime/pseuds/The_Concierge_Of_Crime
Summary: When his fiance was murdered Ted DiBiase Jr thought his life had lost all meaning. When Cody returns Ted couldn't have been happier; except things have changed for Cody, more so than even Ted realises. And, as Ted works to get the love of his life back he finds himself drawn into a world that he never knew existed outside of Hollywood blockbusters... Except Hollywood and all of those authors got the story way, way wrong.





	1. Moving On Ain't So Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Another re-posted work from LJ by myself and Dani. As ever all credit to Vinny Mac and respective owners etc. We make no profit, this is just a fun AU, and we only own the plot and characterisations. Title from a song of the same name, which we also do not own.
> 
> Sincere apologies for the lack of updating here to those of you who like our works! I can only say life and generally being an adult got in the way and I found myself with less time on here. However, as promised to a very good friend and fellow author I am going to do my best to try and be a little more regular with updates for the works Dani and I have that we're going to repost here. Excuse my terrible summary, and possible formatting and other errors, and we hope you enjoy!

Honestly, Ted had no idea what he was doing there; the club was packed, dingy, and had an almost asphyxiating quality of perfume, sweat and smoke. It was hardly his scene before, but now… He downed the last of the bottle of beer before him and slumped forward against the bar some more. The barely-legal looking girl behind the bar eyed him with unequivocal interest but Ted barely noticed she was there, even when she placed a freebie replacement bottle before him and took the other one away. Glancing at his watch –and having little choice but to squint to see the numbers of the head-ache inducing strobe-lighting in the background was now back on full force- Ted decided that enough was enough and he could call it a night. He had already been there an hour… surely that would satisfy his family and ‘concerned’ friends?  
  
 _You don’t go out anymore!_ They complained whenever they came to visit him now, _It’s not healthy, Teddy! Come out with us next time; we’ll have some drinks and have fun! And then you won’t think about---_ Oh yeah, they always got quiet at _that point_ didn’t they? Nobody liked to bring it up for fear of setting him into a fury or another episodic breakdown. He hadn’t had one of those for a while though, and according to his therapist that was _very good progress._ Ted thought the whole thing was fucking bullshit, and if it wasn’t for his mother’s teary-eyed pleas he’d never bother going. Sitting there and talking about him to a total stranger had never been a problem, but the therapist never _understood_ and that was why he’d just given up trying. No one understood how he could still be this way after two years without _him_ by his side…  
  
Oh, he’d dated since, of course--- more so to shut everyone up than anything else. She’d been pretty, and well-off in her own right, but Ted had barely been able to muster even the smallest hint of interest in her. She was blonde, to start… he didn’t like blonde’s; he liked dark hair the colour of pitch with just the barest hint of dark chestnut brown when the light hit it. And, also, her eyes were green: this was something else he didn’t like. The beauty he’d once treasured had had eyes of the most exotic cobalt, the colour seeming to be ever-changing factoring in different lighting and emotions… But they had always looked almost-inky whenever he was aroused… and around him that had happened often. He’d tolerated her for several dates, to make it seem like he was making a genuine effort to all and sundry…  
  
 _But that night when she had made it quite plain that she intended him to ‘stay the night’ he had thrown some vague excuse at her and all but bolted from her doorstep, her shouting at him in the background. She never called him again and Ted didn’t even attempt to seem upset by this development._   
  
A sudden scent surpassed the nauseating haze he had been clouded in before and Ted’s head snapped around like a hound tracking the scent of a hunt immediately; _that wasn’t possible._ He hadn’t smelled that particular brand of cologne once in the past two years--- unless he smelt it directly from the treasured bottle on the vanity table that was. A dark haired figured was standing not too far away from him, and though their face was turned almost completely away from him he’d know that back anywhere. In his mind he knew there was no possible way on God’s green earth that it could be who he thought _(because he was dead and gone, and had been for the past two years)_ but that didn’t stop him from all but launching himself off of the uncomfortable ‘modern’ styled bar-stool in immediate pursuit of this person as they began to walk away.   
  
Fighting against the tide of gyrating and pseudo-sexing dancers was a challenge in itself, and for one heart-stopping moment Ted thought that he had lost the mysterious person that he was attempting to chase. Logically he knew that he would have no way of explaining himself should he catch up to them (somehow he doubted, “Sorry, you look so much like my dead boyfriend I just had to follow you!” would go down too well) but that didn’t slow his feet or dampen his determination even a little bit. The sudden blast of cold evening air chilled him right to the bone as he all but fell through the club’s door, ignoring the bouncer’s suspicious look as his tawny head turned from left to right rapidly to try and seek out his target. They were already halfway down the street and Ted bit his lip as he took off at a very-almost-run.  
  
Just when he thought the person was going to vanish across the parking-lot though, they stopped. Skidding to a halt himself Ted took several deep breaths to try and calm down, an apology for his essentially stalkerish behaviour on the tip of his tongue--- but then he stopped breathing completely when the well-dressed figure turned around and he saw their face for the first time. _Cody. How was it possible? It wasn’t possible. This was it, he had finally gone mad… well, at least his family had already probably pre-booked him a room at the local mental hospital---_ the garbled thoughts rushing through his tumultuous mind were silenced immediately when ‘Cody’ smiled. Seeing that smile in the flesh after two years of dreaming about it soothed Ted’s aching heart, making him feel so truly happy even if it was just some cruel joke from his subconscious.   
  
“Hello Teddy,” Cody’s voice. That was definitely Cody’s voice; only he could make Ted’s nickname sound special, unique. “It’s been a long time… I’m so sorry I left you alone for so long…” Ted didn’t even realise that there were tears on his cheeks until a cold _(God, Cody’s hands were freezing—as though he’d been stood out in the snow for several hours without gloves)_ finger traced the path of a tear and removed it, those beautiful exotic hues completely enveloping Ted’s line of vision. He didn’t care how it was possible, or how insane he probably seemed right now… Cody was there, before him, corporeal and solid. Choking on a sound that sounded embarrassingly like a sob, Ted breathed, “Cody--?” before reaching up with a hand of his own, needing desperately to touch the man in front of him and gain further reassurance that he was there, _“Oh, Cody…”_  
  
                                                                                                                            ~::~   
  
Almost as soon as the heavy-oak door that John walked through to get to his lover’s bedroom closed behind him, he felt himself being shoved firmly back into it. The wood shivered and rattled underneath their combined weights, but aside from an ominous creak it held. _Unnatural super-strength could be something of a bitch when it came to attempting not to smash home furnishings with every movement you made._ Chuckling low in his throat as a hot, wet tongue began tracing up his neck, John tilted his head back into pseudo-submissive gesture and caressed the back of the neck belonging to the strong, muscled body that was currently pressed into him. “Eager tonight are we?” he rumbled teasingly, his Boston accent still strong even though it had been many, _many_ decades since he had even set foot in the place of his birth.  
  
“Anyone would think I had been neglecting you,” he continued in the same teasing tone, and in response the fantastically long-legged and gloriously half-naked man pressed into him scraped his fangs over John’s jugular in warning. “You _have_ been neglecting me,” a subtle Missouri accent crooned, rocking his jean-covered groin into John’s with deliberate intent. Randy was hard as a pipe and if he didn’t get relief soon then he was going to hurt someone, “You’re late. You told me you’d be here right after sundown. I know you’re getting old now but that’s no excuse for being late--” the younger vampire hissed playfully when John’s large _(oh so very large, and strong)_ fingers wrapped around his chin and all but jerked his head backwards, exposing the apparently unblemished expanse of naturally tanned throat to John’s eagerly awaiting lips.   
  
Much like Randy had done to him previously, John drew the tip of his tongue from collar-bone to chin, using the barely-pulsing jugular as a point of movement. Randy shivered at the sensation, knowing that had he still been mortal that his heart would have been going like the clappers and his natural instincts would have had him forgoing any further messing… but that was half of the fun with John. Foreplay, even when he was human, had never interested him, but with John… with John the foreplay was almost as fun as the sex. And that was still an odd thought to have considering that not months ago he had been attempting to rip John’s throat out at every available opportunity. His ego still stung even now when he’d considered how he’d failed, but the retrospect was so much better for him that he hadn’t.   
  
_Not to say that he didn’t think John still didn’t deserve some sort of a beating for what he had done to him. However, infuriatingly, Randy had learned rather quickly that not only was a younger vampire greatly disadvantaged when they tried to physically clash with another, but attempting to harm one’s sire was even harder to accomplish._   
  
“Aren’t you hungry?” the tattooed vampire purred, once again rolling his hips into John’s; the older man was equally aroused so he knew that John had to have been thinking about their meeting even if he had been somehow waylaid. “I’m _starving,_ ” John all but hissed against Randy’s neck, startling the younger vampire somewhat when he suddenly seized him by the thighs and lifted him cleanly off of the floor. Even as he wrapped his legs –very comfortably indeed- around John’s waist Randy couldn’t help but pout; his vampire strength had been his greatest source of pride since his Awakening all those years ago… and John always managed to piss on his proverbial bonfire about it without any effort at all. Not to say that he couldn’t pick John up in return, you understand, even if the man was ridiculously wide as well as muscular in his build.   
  
The mattress creaked underneath their combined weights as John set him on the bed (“Remind me to buy you a new one,” John muttered as he inhaled Randy’s scent again) and Randy shivered in anticipation of what was to come. Before John he had never let anyone except his clan members feed off of him--- and now that they all had mates they didn’t need to seek him out anymore, and he respected that boundary and didn’t bother looking for them either. Oh, they had sheep to appease the needs of feeding and sexual satisfaction, certainly, but since his first feeding from his own sire John, Randy had felt that everything else seemed to just pale in comparison. When John’s mouth merely rested against his vein for several long moments Randy felt his impatience beginning to grow, “The fuck you waiting for, Cena?” he growled.   
  
After that, without so much as a by-your-leave, John’s fangs were suddenly against his neck, the sensation of them sliding so easily through his flesh, like a knife through hot butter almost, had Randy gasping. For several perfectly maddening seconds pain and euphoria battled inside of him and he convulsed lightly, grasping at the rock-solid biceps of the man feeding from him. A low sound across between a purr and a growl rumbled from deep within John’s chest and Randy felt the small vibrations against his throat as his lover continued to feed. Unbidden his hips thrust upwards, connecting with John’s own denim-covered one, and he almost keened in delight as the man over him immediately obliged him and pressed downwards, providing him with some friction. However, it was nowhere near what he wanted to feel, and he would soon let John know it.  
  
When John had drank his fill his tongue lapped at the already-scarring mark on the side of Randy’s throat (apparently their saliva had enzymes like that of a dog’s to speed up the healing process) and Randy had recovered himself somewhat _–he was shaking like a virgin after their first orgasm-_ he began immediately pawing at John’s waist-band, all but shredding the denim _(and the man’s underpants)_ beneath his desperate fingers. He _needed_ John _now._ If he didn’t get the other man inside of him soon he was going to scream. If it wasn’t for the desperately dangerous desire he could see like liquid flames in John’s own eyes Randy would have thought he was completely unaffected as he merely hovered over him, but when Randy arched his head up and fairly smashed their mouths together John came to life and was equally uncaring as he tore Randy’s jeans right down the middle. For a second, Randy paused, and then yelped, _“Those were my favourite jeans, asshole!”_   
  
                                                                                                                                 ~:~   
  
John gave a rich laugh at Randy’s indignation. “If you’re so worried about your wardrobe then I can stop right here.”   
  
“Don’t you fucking dare—“Randy gave a strangled sound as John nipped at his inner thigh, scraping his fangs over the skin. _“Stop fucking around John!”_   
  
John was tempted, so very tempted, to tell Randy that he was getting _nothing_ unless he asked nicely, damn well _begged_ – that would be sweet as hell – but he didn’t. Randy was the leader of his own clan, which John was not, and he had a lot of pride; to try something like that while Randy was in the house he led might just evoke the animosity that had brought them here in the first place. And the last thing he wanted was Randy’s decades-long hatred focused on him again.   
  
Randy was the only one of his kind he had ever created. Back then Randy had been a soldier back home on leave, riding into battle on horseback with a sword (although with the advent of airplanes, parachutes and the more destructive kinds of guns, John had occasionally thought back and thought they were far more suited to Randy’s personality). John had been recently fled from the clan he’d been taken into when he had first been turned and unused to hunting on his own, being _allowed_ to hunt on his own and he had still been finding the delicate balance between feeding and killing. And he’d screwed up, simple as. His usual MO was to loiter in some bar until some traveller came in, ply them with drink and then suggest they went out for some air, or a walk. Of course, that was only the cover and those men knew it, although they didn’t know what it was a cover _for._ Those were days when no one announced out loud that they might be interested in men, subtle hints were all that was allowed because one could end up incarcerated for even considering such a thing. Once outside, they would go to some alley, John would lean his victim against the wall and feed, the victim too drunk and confused to remain conscious for long. Once their legs started to go, John would let them fall and the next morning they would wake and assume they had put on the mother of all drunks and that was why they felt so weak. When they did remember John, they would assume that they had passed out before anything happened and he had ditched them.   
  
It worked for John better than anything else he could come up with – after all, it had been _exactly_ those circumstances that had led to his own change, his self-preservation instincts deadened by booze and the apparent sexual interest he was being shown – right up until Randy had shown up. It had all gone perfectly at first, the only difference being that as well as seeing someone he could feed off, he had a genuine, powerful sexual attraction to Randy as well. Had things been different he might have forgotten all about feeding and enjoyed a long night in a rented room tangled in the sheets with the man but he had left it too long since his last meal, something he did in those days thanks to his nomadic lifestyle and the self-loathing at what he was that he hadn’t gotten over back then. He had needed to feed but Randy hadn’t been anywhere near as drunk as his usual victims and he hadn’t buckled mere seconds after John fastened his teeth to his neck. He had remained upright, clinging to John and letting out a sensual moan that had overtaken all of John’s senses. He tasted so good, intoxicating and by the time John had managed to regain some control they were both on the floor, him kneeling with Randy limp in his arms, no longer breathing.   
  
John had killed him.   
  
It was the first life he had taken away from his clan without direction and remorse slammed into him with a force that would have staggered him had he not already been on his knees. Randy looked peaceful, perfect, like he might be just sleeping and John stroked the side of his face, cursing himself for his actions. The man probably wasn’t even thirty and John had stolen his life.  
  
He had bitten into his own wrist and trickled his own blood into Randy’s mouth with some half-assed idea that the replacement for what John had taken from him would give him enough to keep on living. It hadn’t worked, or so John had thought at the time. Randy had lain there unresponsive, blood on his lips and John simply had to accept that he had taken another life, after he had sworn it would not happen. His remorse had not stopped him from doing what he had to; taking Randy’s body to a secluded spot and dumping it in a shallow grave. In more than a hundred and fifty years since then he had thought of Randy every single day without fail, always with a sense of deep shame and sorrow.  
  
Right up until that moment a few months previously when he had been walking through the streets in the small hours and suddenly sensed _vampires_ , two or more of them. He could usually tell when his own kind were around but it was never, ever quite so strong as it had been then, he had never sensed the same kind of pull. The only near-comparison had been between him, his own sire and his clan brothers and although it was the closest thing he had it still wasn’t the same. He had paused, not knowing what any of it meant and then a figure had barrelled into him from the darkness. He hadn’t needed to search his memory to put a name to the snarling face that had been so close to his own, fangs extended as the other tried to end his existence and as John dealt with the matter with an almost insulting ease, all he had felt was a deep sense of relief that whatever he had done to try and save Randy had worked after all, if not in the way he had intended. And probably he should have kept his distance given the resentment the other had felt but the attraction he had felt back then was still there and stronger than ever given their blood ties. In some ways it had been and remained as awkward as hell, but Randy accepting what John had told him of the circumstances of the change had gone a long way to smoothing things over. It hadn’t hurt either that Randy had taken to vampirism with far more aplomb than John had done.  
  
The main thing that had got them past the long-time hate though had been that they had an undeniable attraction to one another and a connection that seemed to run far deeper than that between sire and child.   
  
That connection was what told him that Randy wasn’t playing when he said that he needed John _right then_ and stopped him from teasing any further. Not that he was at all sure he could have done, by that point he was desperate for his lover too. Growling quietly, he ran his hand over his cock to lubricate himself further and pressed himself to Randy’s entrance, aware that he had not done much to prepare his lover and even knowing that Randy would be fine, he was a fast healer as they all were, this was supposed to be a pleasure for both of them.   
  
Randy met his eyes as John slipped inside him, letting out some needy sound as he wrapped his legs around John’s waist. Sighing, fighting a moment to keep control of himself, John nipped on Randy’s lip before driving himself forward, no patience in him after he had kept them both waiting. It occurred to him, not for the first time, that he still expected Randy’s animosity even now when the man had said he understood how such mistakes could happen when one was feeding, that maybe he expected that hate because he felt like he’d earned it from his lover – but somehow Randy seemed to have gotten over it, all John needed to do was the same.   
  
~:~   
  
Before Ted could touch Cody’s cheek, Cody wrapped his hand gently around Ted’s wrist and even through the fabric of his shirt he could feel the welcome weight and the not-so-welcome chill that seemed to emanate from him. Ted held still, eyes widened, heart pounding. There was something amiss, he knew that just as well as he knew this was no imposter, no person who merely resembled his long-dead love, this was _the man himself…_   
  
Except that it couldn’t be. Cody had died ( _been murdered_ , his mind amended slyly) two years before and there was no chance of mistaken identity or some coma that looked like death. Ted had been the one to identify his fiancé’s body and he had known as soon as the coroner had drawn back the sheet covering him that it really was true, Cody was really dead. There had been no life at all in him; he had lain on the steel table with his face cleaned up but cut open, lips turned blue, eyes forever closed. The sight that haunted Ted still and had extinguished all hope that this was just some cosmic error, some other man with Cody’s ID. It had been him, at the end of his life… and it had been the end of Ted’s too.   
  
At first there had been an outpouring of grief that was just too huge to be articulated, vast and all-encompassing. Eating, sleeping, moving, _breathing_ , they had all seemed less than important and aside from the funeral (Cody being buried because the mere thought of cremation, destroying every last physical piece of his lover, had made Ted physically sick when it had been suggested) he hadn’t left the apartment the two of them had shared. He had been one of the pallbearers and that coffin had a weight to it; it had not been empty. Had there still been hope, he thought he would have lost it then but he had already known that there was none and so he had lain in his bed, still able to smell the traces of his lover’s presence and cried incessantly, sometimes so hard that it hurt and sometimes silent, futile tears that managed to exhaust him more. Since then he had somehow manage to hold his pain on the inside, a hot core surrounded by a numb sense of loss that passed for normality if one didn’t look closely. He functioned. He ate, sporadically since he had no desire for the food, he slept after a fashion with Cody haunting every one of his dreams, he worked, he saw people. But he didn’t seek out company, he would far rather have retired away from the world and been left with his memories and his loss until the day he finally joined Cody again. Family and friends worked to bring him to something akin to a life but Ted merely thought of himself as existing.   
  
So often he had woken and reached out to curl against Cody only to find he was alone, had thought he had seen Cody from the corner of his eye and almost injured his neck turning his head to see, had heard his laugh in a crowded place and spent hours searching it to find him, knowing all the time that it was impossible but _needing_ to find him regardless. He talked to Cody when he was home alone as if the man were sitting on the couch able to answer and not beneath the ground hearing nothing at all. There had been times when he felt as if he were losing his sanity, teetering on some mental abyss and not entirely sure why he didn’t just let himself fall in because if he did, at least there would be the illusion of Cody rather than the cruel knowledge that he was lost to Ted.   
  
Staring into those familiar eyes, he wondered if he hadn’t finally allowed himself the luxury of madness. The pain and the grief and the loneliness finally driving him insane and now he could spend the rest of his life with the man he loved even in the safety of his own head while his body drooled and some kindly doctor spoon-fed it and made sure he couldn’t harm himself by keeping his arms tied behind his head. But it didn’t feel like he was hallucinating, everything was too real by far. He could hear himself breathing, the blood pounding in his ears, the faint sound of the music still playing in the club that might as well have been a hundred miles away. He could feel the slight chill in the night air against his warm cheeks (and the cold weight of Cody’s fingers on his wrist that were much more chilling than the wind). He could taste the faint traces of liquor on his breath, smell the cologne that was just the same as came from the bottle on the dresser that had never belonged to him. And all he could see was Cody.  
  
Maybe he was dead.   
  
That thought was a long way from upsetting. Ever since the night Cody had died, he had been waiting for death, hoping for it, wanting it. Occasionally even courting it. There seemed no reason to go on living without Cody, the entire world had become bleak and dark and there was no other way through it at all. He had thought occasionally about hastening that, but there was some trace of the religion of his childhood that reminded him that to do so was a mortal sin – but he had turned his back on God when he had lost Cody and found there was no comfort at all. What had stopped him was knowing Cody would have been _pissed,_ would have called him a coward, shouted at him – been _disappointed_ in him. Life wasn’t worth living but he walked unseeingly through it regardless.   
  
But perhaps he had done his time, got out of the prison that his life had become somehow and now Cody was here to lead him from it.   
  
Ted dismissed that idea almost as soon as it came into his head, not because he didn’t feel like a ghost or anything like that, but because _Cody_ seemed too corporeal to be some otherworldly entity. Too solid. Too cold.   
  
The thoughts passed through his mind in seconds as he tried to find the words to ask why Cody had not let him touch and then Cody derailed his mind once more by turning Ted’s hand palm-up and kissing his wrist, the lips against his pulse not as cold as his hands but getting there. He lingered over the action, inhaled deeply and then raised his head with a suddenness that was almost violent.  
  
“Teddy…” Cody’s voice was low and hoarse, almost a whisper. “I came here because I needed to see you. I _needed_ to, I couldn’t keep going without laying eyes on you one more time…”   
  
Ted had a good idea of how he looked from the last time Cody had seen him, when they had kissed goodbye at the door as Ted went through it on his way to work and Cody spent another idle ten minutes eating toast and drinking coffee before setting off himself, ready to put in some overtime. Back then Ted had been a picture of health with maybe an extra inch that he just couldn’t seem to shift, well-groomed and permanently smiling. These days he had a plastic smile he pasted on when he had to and never reached his shadowed, haunted eyes, the extra inch had gone along with several others that he’d really needed _(all you’ll ever needed to reach your target waistline – the love of your life murdered!)._ He had managed to retain the muscles though. Sometimes the only way he got any sleep was to exhaust himself to that point and workouts were damned good for that.   
  
Cody didn’t seem to have seen how he’d deteriorated though, or if he did he didn’t much care. “When I saw you though, it wasn’t enough. I needed to see you seeing me, I needed to hear you, I needed to touch – I’m so damned selfish and I always was, but you always forgave me…” He shook his head slightly. “Back then, you always did. Perhaps it’s for the best now if you don’t.”   
  
“Cody.” Ted felt his breath catch on the word even though he had something more to say; he just didn’t think he could ever get enough of saying that name and having the person intended respond to it. “Cody. I already did, I always will. There’s nothing to forgive—“   
  
He didn’t know that and there was certainly a hell of a lot to _explain_ but Ted found he didn’t give a flying fuck about reasons. There might be an explanation and it might even be important at some point but for the moment all that mattered was that Cody was _there_ , he was _alive_ and if it had somehow looked like he had been killed then Ted must have been mistaken or lied to – although he knew he hadn’t. He just didn’t care about the _why_. He had been handed a miracle and he didn’t want to poke holes and find that it was a mirage.   
  
Cody stared back at Ted and Ted could see something deep in those changeable blue eyes, some flicker of hope – he had always been able to read Cody’s emotions so very well, the man wore his feelings like a billboard. And then it extinguished and Cody closed his eyes, not releasing Ted’s wrist. “Just – don’t freak out on me, okay? I can make all this not have happened, at least I think I can—“   
  
_“No!”_   
  
Ted didn’t have the first clue what Cody was talking about with his _not happened_ talk but he knew for _sure_ that he wanted this to have happened, to _be_ happening. He wanted Cody back with an intensity he had not allowed himself to feel for too long because he thought his head or his heart might just implode with the sorrow and longing. No matter what, he _needed_ this. “I won’t freak out, I promise Cody just – don’t go. Don’t leave me again Cody, please…”   
  
“Teddy…” Cody’s voice was so low that Ted thought he might have imagined it. And then Cody’s lips parted and Ted found his eyes going to the mouth he had kissed so lovingly and so often, the simple smile there always lifting his spirits and making the world a better place. It took him a moment to realise he could see Cody’s teeth behind those lips, the slight gap that had made the man so self-conscious on occasion and the canines that were – that were growing.   
  
All thought was wiped from Ted’s mind in an instant, all memories of pain and hurt and loneliness, of Cody’s absence. His entire consciousness was narrowed to the fangs that his lover had just grown and the implications of them. Fangs. Cody’s canines had never been even slightly elongated, Ted knew that for certain, every inch of Cody was etched upon his heart. And that meant that he’d had some complete break with reality and there was every chance he really _was_ in a rubber room somewhere. Because he didn’t believe in vampires. He knew there was no such thing, no vampires, no zombies, no werewolves. He put no credence in superstitious bullshit, he never had. Dead was dead and there was no coming back from it.   
  
Only Cody was _back_.   
  
And those were fangs.   
  
And his skin was ice-cold and there was no tell-tale rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. And there were fangs.   
  
And Cody was dead. Except that he wasn’t.   
  
Ted had often felt like he was losing his touch with reality over the last two years, that it simply wasn’t worth keeping himself grounded to a world that he wanted no part of, that he was adrift without any chance of ever being anchored again. He was very familiar with the feel of his mental strings pulling loose as he faced the impossible and that was what his mind felt as his entire body froze, barely breathing as he stared unblinkingly at Cody’s mouth.   
  
Cody let go of his wrist and slowly brought his hand away without opening his eyes. “I’m so sorry Teddy,” he whispered. “I’ll go. And by the morning I can promise that you’ll never know I was even here—“   
  
Ted’s body moved before his mind could do more than shriek a protest at that – to have never seen Cody again, to have him _leave_ , leave on his own because of Ted this time rather than be snatched blameless from him, that was the worst thing that Ted could conceive of. Cody had been his life and even when he was gone, he was _still_ Ted’s life. There was no true life without him.   
  
Cody had planned to leave just as fast as he could, explain the situation to someone who could help Ted with it (although _no one_ would be able to help _Cody_ get over the loss, he would remember it for the rest of eternity) but there was no speed in him. He didn’t want to leave, it was taking all of his willpower to even draw away from the love of his life and to actually _go_ … he didn’t want that at all and it showed because he didn’t seem to be able to move. Even though at any moment Ted would start to freak, because Cody had done something stupid, been unable to keep his distance and wrecked any chance that Ted was getting over him and on with his life.   
  
Not that he believed that had been happening for a moment, one of the reasons his needs had overcome his good sense and allowed him to be seen. Ted wasn’t getting on with his life at all. The air all around Ted was so _sad_ that Cody had been able to feel it all the way across the room. It made his barely-beating heart ache for the man he loved more than anything else, himself included, and there had been no way he had been able to leave Ted that way. Only he might have made things a hundred times worse instead. He could take Ted’s memory of the night, but his own would be there forever.   
  
With his eyes closed he couldn’t see Ted, but he could sense the man’s movement and hear the sound of his heartbeat grow louder, the intoxicating smell of his cologne and skin and blood increase. A moment later Ted’s arms were around him, pulling him closer with a strength born of desperation and holding him close, head buried in the crook of Cody’s neck. Cody reacted completely instinctively, his own arms going around Ted’s waist as they had always done and dropping his head to Ted’s shoulder, fighting back a needy moan at the sound of Ted’s heart, the warmth of his skin. He should have fed before he had allowed himself to be distracted by the need to see his lost love, but Cody had needed this too badly. He could never harm Ted, of course he couldn’t, but his reactions to the man he loved were so much stronger when he had other needs that he should have considered. His body and instincts responded to Ted almost violently, more aggressively than they had to anyone else since he had become something else. He supposed he should have expected it; back when he had been human there had been no one who could affect him anywhere near as powerfully as Ted could.   
  
He kissed the spot on Ted’s neck where his carotid was, to prove to them both that he was not about to lose his control and then Ted pulled back slightly and pressed a firm kiss to Cody’s lips. It was almost chaste but hard, the kind of kiss one could not argue with. Cody did not even try, although his fangs were still prominent and did not want to retract – the trouble with being new to this and to having Ted so close to him.   
  
“Don’t you leave me Cody,” said Ted in a low, urgent voice that brooked no argument. “I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s happened to you but I’ll fix it Cody, I’ll find a way. I’ll make it better and we can go back to our lives the way it used to be, it’ll be _better_ , I promise, but – I don’t want you to go Cody. I can’t live with it again.”   
  
He kissed Cody again, on the cheek this time and Cody could feel the damp of tears against Ted’s cheeks. It broke Cody’s heart to feel them there and to know that he was the cause of them, that it was his leaving, no matter how unwilling that had been, that had caused Ted such grief. And once more he felt humbled in the face of Ted’s love for him – there had been moments like that back when he was human, when Ted would do or say something that spoke of a feeling so great that they could externalise only a fraction of it. There had been no questions and no outward fear. Ted had accepted him, as he always had, without question or condition.   
  
Cody stroked his hand against Ted’s cheek, drawing back a little so he could look into Ted’s eyes. “Baby—“ His voice cracked a little and he paused so he could control himself better. “I will have to go soon. But not far and not for long this time.”   
  
“Cody—“   
  
“I’ll explain. But not here. Come with me, we’ll go home for a while and talk there.”   
  
Home. The place he and Ted had shared together, where they had planned a long and happy future together. Cody felt a slight sense of unreality wash over him. He knew that Ted still lived there, had resisted all attempts to make him leave for a place that wasn’t heavy with memories – he had his ways of finding out these things – but he had not been back since the morning he had walked out with half a slice of toast still in his hand, locking the door behind him and expecting to be back soon, not expecting his life to be forever changed in one mindless act of violence and another that may or may not prove to be his redemption. He wondered if anything had changed, if it was still as he remembered whenever he thought back to that time, the way he did almost every moment.   
  
“Home…” Ted looked almost uncertain for a moment, then nodded slightly more certainly. Cody knew that Ted was suffering from complete confusion and bewilderment but at least he could give some kind of explanation. He hoped. There was so much that he didn’t understand himself and he was the one living through it.   
  
But at least he had known that there was still hope, that his beloved was still alive. Ted had been the one really suffering and everything that Cody had done from that day had been with one goal in mind; that one day he would be able to see Ted again. And now that moment was here he was afraid… when the confusion lifted and reality set in, there was every chance that Ted would reject him completely.


	2. Pleasant Dreams My Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy reflects on his relationship with John, and also his Children, whilst awaiting Cody's return from his 'visit'.

“I’ll buy you a Gap shop if it’ll make it up to you,” John murmured into Randy’s ear, momentarily confusing him as to why John would be mentioning a clothes shop at a time like this, but then the older man was surging forward into him in one solid thrust and Randy promptly forgot those innocuous thoughts, clutching at John’s still covered shoulders… _why did he have a shirt on still?_  
  
Bunching the bottom of John’s shirt between his hands, Randy let loose a low moan before he then growled low in his throat, wrenching the fabric to the degree where he split it down the middle, just like John had his jeans moments before. The brunette shrugged out of the material halves and then braced his arms down on either side of Randy’s head, beginning to piston his hips firmly back and forth, filling Randy to a degree that he had never known before. Hissing between his teeth in pleasure, Randy became acutely aware of his mouth becoming crowded as his fangs grew out. Now he was much older he could conjure them as on when, but excitement triggered the instinct.  
  
“Yes,” Randy groaned, clutching at John’s broad shoulders with his own large hands, feeling the muscles he gripped turning almost to rock with the effort John was using to keep their bodies apart enough so that he didn’t accidentally crush Randy underneath him. Though his lover was built and tall in his own right John knew that having his weight atop the other could get uncomfortable after a little bit. “Fuck, _John! Harder!_ ” In case you were wondering, yes, Randy was a demanding little thing in bed… and again John was saddened that he hadn’t held off enough that night to experience. But, in the end things were working out in his favour it seemed.  
  
When Randy’s fangs broke the skin of his own throat (right on the scar that he had obtained back in his human childhood when a farming accident had occurred, one involving a wild bullock… enough said) John gasped on reflex and shuddered, squeezing down on the sheets that he had bunched underneath his fists. The sound of fabric tearing barely registered to the two vampires above the pleasured sounds Randy was giving as he fed and was fucked, and the low sounds John was giving as he surrendered his life’s (well, you know what he meant) blood to the younger vampire in turn. It was the pure pleasure of surrender; _giving_ was as good as _taking_.  
  
John’s blood tasted like a deep, potently matured wine and Randy had to resist the carnal urge to just drain his sire dry for good; once upon a time that had been all he thought about, but now… Well, stupid and sentimental as it was he just thought about _John_. And John’s cock. But the reason for that was much lustier and nowhere near as sentimental; he liked sucking it and he liked being fucked by it, end of story. Lately he had been forced to consider that there might be something _more_ with regards to his sire, but Randy had never been too good when it came to feelings and that hadn’t improved with age. Once he had drunk his fill he eased back.  
  
All at once his euphoria was increased; sound and sight becoming even clearer than his advanced state before, the younger vampire more aware than before of each tendon contained underneath John’s skin, each flex of muscles and even the ‘creak’ sound that accompanied John clenching his jaw so hard that it trembled. He did that a lot, Randy had noticed over their months of sleeping together and feeding from each other, but he didn’t know why… it was almost as though John was taking precautions against saying something that might get him into trouble. But, what could that be? Randy was curious even if it was just a fanciful notion in his head.  
  
Leaning down, John licked a remnant of his own blood (and he had long since stopped questioning how the fuck his own blood could add to his arousal) from Randy’s lips and then plundered the younger vampire’s mouth with his tongue, fucking it in the same intense, unrelenting rhythm that he was using to fuck Randy. When John suddenly changed angle, fairly pounding his sweet-spot like a jackhammer, Randy fairly clawed at the elder’s back and thrashed underneath him, garbled moans, hisses and growl spilling from his lips. At one point Randy broke the skin, and although John felt it it didn’t deter him even the smallest bit from his actions.  
  
Besides, he would probably be healed before they were even finished. It was one of the pluses and cons of being undead: occasionally you may actually want to leave your mark upon someone, but because of their accelerated healing that didn’t happen, and on the flip-side if you got marked up for some reason (like the time some little punk had bust John’s lip when he had attempted to mug him--- John had smashed the kid’s head into the alley-wall and then hoisted him down to the local police-station and left the limp body on the doorstep to be found by a stunned PC not a few hours later) you healed up in no time at all. Feeding helped of course. His stomach clenched in anticipation and Randy arched his hips; the headboard of his old, sturdy bed was knocking hard enough against the wall to have plaster raining down from the ceiling (well, he was due to redecorate soon anyway… it’d been 15 years since he last had) and he could bet that later most of his clan members wouldn’t be able to resist commenting on it. Especially Hunter and Shawn; those two didn’t know the meaning of the words, ‘tact’ or ‘delicacy’. “John,” he growled, eyes rolling up as John continued to thrust into him just right, “Touch me.” He felt John pull back from where his face had pressed into Randy’s neck, as it always did, just staying there.  
  
“No,” the Boston native then drawled and Randy actually lost his rhythm for a moment, wide, lust-and-bloodlust-blown eyes landing on John’s face. His lover looked equally gone, and had they been human (and therefore affected by narcotics) people would probably assume that they had taken something. “What—do—you—mean—no?!” Randy demanded, words coming out in skips and pants as his body bounced underneath John’s. When John didn’t answer him Randy felt his ire rise, but when his hands were suddenly pinned down above his head, John’s fingers linking with him, Randy immediately knew what the older vampire was intending. He writhed, “John, not this again!”  
  
But for all his protests they knew he didn’t mean it. Randy was not a man for whom submission came easy, but sometimes he really needed John to just step up and take the dominant role, to hold him down and force him to take. Sure, he wanted it anyway but that wasn’t the point. Fangs nicks lips and crowded their kiss as their mouths met again, John knowing he was close and striving to take Randy over the peak with him without physically touching the man. He had managed it once before and on occasion, like this, the urge to do it again just seized him and wouldn’t let go. A few more thrusts and a playful, not-feeding bite to his jugular was all it took for Randy.  
  
Even as he was yelling his own climax to the ceiling Randy felt John’s seed flooding his inside, warming him and marking him. It was funny how their bodies felt almost hot after this, when logically they all knew their temperatures barely went higher than room temp at best. Slowly the two men stilled, John still buried inside of Randy and Randy’s impossibly long and built legs locked around John’s trim waist. As his hands were released they immediately went around John’s shoulders, forcing the man to stay right where he was a bit longer. As he lingered in the haze of bliss Randy wasn’t sure whether he actually heard, or imagined, what he thought John whispered into his ear as he came:  
  
_“My Randy… My precious Randy… I love you.”_  
  
                                                                                                                        ~:~  
  
It turned out that Cody had driven there (and had Ted not been in the depths of shock he would have asked just _where_ Cody had gotten an Aston Martin Vanquish from when he’d been dead and ergo having no money, nor the ability, to go out and buy such an item) and before too long they were pulling up out front of their home. As the engine shut off Ted knew that he should move, but at the same time he was terrified to. What if he walked through the door and Cody vanished again? What if this was just some bizarre, perfect, twisted dream?  
  
“Teddy?” Cody’s voice was gentle and filled with concern, sounding just the same as it always did whenever he had used that tone in the past. Slowly, Ted looked up from where his hands were clenched in his lap and met the concerned eyes of his lover. The younger looked uneasy, as though terrified that he had ruined something… _and that was ridiculous. Cody had never ruined anything as far as Ted was concerned._ “Yeah?” Ted asked, his voice coming out hoarse and oddly hazy even to his own ears. If he had ever been a frequenter of recreational drugs he would have wondered whether he was finally having a great trip.  
  
“Are you alright?” Cody asked, reaching to place a hand atop his own clenched ones, but then hesitating--- almost as though unsure whether Ted would want him touching him or not. Without thinking Ted lifted one of his own hands and grasped Cody’s firmly. Again the cold immediately permeated his skin, but otherwise Cody’s hand felt the same as it ever did; soft, thanks to his affinity for hand-cream, and yet lightly calloused thanks to playing sports in his childhood years and his trips to the gym as an adult. Ted wanted to laugh; that had to be the silliest thing he had heard since Cody passed away, and he had heard _a lot_ since then.  
  
_You need to get over him_ , was one, and, _It’s time to move on was another_. They were the two that his family and friends had always fallen back on when they were trying to get him to attend some meaningless ‘group date’ or other general ‘night out’. An answer to Cody was on the tip of his tongue, _No, Cody, I’m not alright. I haven’t been alright since the day you left me, and if you think you can just walk away from me again…_ He didn’t say it though. He had never blamed Cody, how could he? Cody hadn’t taken his own life… he only ever blamed the two men who _had_ taken the former free-lance model and office-worker’s life. _Two men that had never been found._  
  
“I’m… getting there,” Ted responded, looking almost pleadingly at Cody, “You are going to come in, right?” Cody looked surprised and then laughed softly; it wasn’t as loud, and as from-the-stomach as his old laugh had been, but it had been a sound that Ted had missed all the same. “Of course I am, silly,” he said softly, bringing Ted’s hand up and resting the back of it against his cold cheek, “Where else would I be going?” nodding stiffly Ted forced himself to release Cody’s hand and get out of the expensive car. He fumbled as he tried to get his key in the lock, overwhelmed emotions finally making themselves known it seemed. However, a gentle –cold- hand steadied him immediately.  
  
Pushing the door open, Ted then stepped over the threshold. Turning back to Cody after he had clicked on the light (and Cody was _still_ there, that was a good sign. Why, he didn’t know, but it was a good sign) Ted swallowed momentarily, “Um…?” he couldn’t even get the question out but it seemed that Cody already knew what he wanted to say. Cody had always been able to do that. Arching one of his finely plucked brows (Cody’s image had always meant a lot to him, but he had never been vain in the way you might think) the ravenette then stopped over the threshold. “Tada,” he joked lightly and Ted managed a strangled sound that could have been interpreted as a chuckle.  
  
“So you don’t need to be invited in then?” he asked shakily and Cody closed the door behind him before shaking his head. “No… Hollywood lied to us about that. Let’s just say that they were right about the… very minimal tolerance to sunlight though,” he said delicately and Ted cocked his head to one side in surprise. Cody had always loved the sun… how had he managed to adjust to a life without it? “I, um,” Ted raked a hand through his tawny hair, ruffling it up even further than he had before, “Can I get you a drink or anything?” he was treating Cody like a guest, but he didn’t mean to, he just… didn’t know what to do.  
  
He wanted to just move to the other and embrace him, and kiss him over and over again and tell him how sorry he was that he hadn’t been able to protect him that day. Sure, deep down he knew that there was logically he could have done that day to make things go differently, but that didn’t mean that the guilt didn’t make itself known. “No,” Cody smiled slightly, as though he was enjoying a private secret… and then Ted realised how stupid his offer had actually been given the… change in circumstances Cody had experienced. Sheepishly, and blushing violently, Ted ducked his head, “I’m sorry,” he apologised.  
  
“Don’t be,” Cody said, moving to Ted slowly (and looking like he was making a conscious effort to do so, for reasons Ted couldn’t quite understand) and reached out tentatively for his hand, twining their fingers together when Ted made no attempt to pull away from him. “I can drink other things… it just doesn’t do anything to me. I learned that pretty quickly after all I got from a gallon of bleach was a startling case of dry mouth.” That sentiment had Ted trip over his own feet on the living-room carpet, but he found himself being turned quite expertly into Cody’s arms before he hit the carpet. “Whoa…” he murmured, momentarily feeling dizzy. Cody looked sheepish.  
  
“Sorry… I forget that I don’t need to pull so hard nowadays,” Cody whispered, his lisp coming out the same as ever, and Ted’s chest warmed at the sound of it. It had always been a sore spot for the Georgia native, but for Ted, the Mississippi native always listed that as one of his most favourite things about Cody. “No problem,” Ted tried to sound easy-going and light, because he didn’t want Cody to misunderstand and think Ted was panicking… even though his brain was struggling to keep up with how quick all of that had been. Leading Cody to the couch, sitting down next to him and still clasping the man’s hand tight, Ted suddenly was at a loss for words.  
  
There had been so much that he had known that he’d want to say to Cody when they were together again, but obviously this scenario had never factored into his mind and so he was finding it hard to say anything at all. Eventually though, the over-light question of, “How long have you been like… this?” left his lips and Ted winced; of all the things he could have said, that was what he came out with? Fuck, he was such an idiot sometimes. Cody, however, didn’t seem too puzzled or put up by this, and instead shrugged and answered, “I was turned before I died… but I didn’t wake up until about a week after my funeral.”  
  
Ted’s eyes widened then, staring. “You’ve been…” he hesitated, “Up, for that long?” that sounded like such an odd phrase but he didn’t know how else to put it. An immediate expression of contriteness and apology appeared on Cody’s face before he ducked his eyes. He didn’t know what it was, Ted thought as he looked at Cody’s demure position, but even though Cody had always been the most beautiful person in the world to him, suddenly he seemed, if possible, more beautiful… or was that just because the last time Ted had seen him his love had been battered and bruised and broken? “I wanted to come and see you,” the words dragged Ted back from the memory of Cody in the mortuary lab.  
  
“I wanted to come and see you,” Cody seemed completely oblivious to what Ted was thinking about, and from the garbled speed of his sweetheart’s speech (causing him to trip over his lisp worse than usual) it seemed that Cody had been waiting a _long_ time to say to this him. When Cody’s eyes met his again Ted was momentarily stupefied by the full force of their depths, and that was probably for the best as he had the feeling that if he had interrupted Cody any time soon then the other would probably forget what he had wanted to say even if he had been holding it back for so long. “But they wouldn’t let me,” Cody explained. Well sort-of explained.  
  
Immediately Ted’s protectiveness reared its head and the blonde did then interrupt with, “ _Who_ wouldn’t let you? Cody--” Cody, however, seemed to have missed the question because he was still talking, “---being here now even though I’m OK, is probably going to get me in trouble. Too soon, they said still, and if you say me then it could ruin everything for you, but I couldn’t help it… I’ve waited two years to see you again and now you were so close I couldn’t hold back anymore…” his shoulders slumped, as though he felt like Ted was going to be disappointed in him for something. Reaching, Ted used his free hand to tilt Cody’s chin up, “I don’t care,” he responded.  
  
For a moment Cody looked startled, but before he could get talking again Ted over-rode him firmly. “I don’t care _what_ you are now, or _who_ did it to you. You’re here and that’s all I care about. _I identified your body, Cody_ ,” his voice cracked on the words and Cody winced in return, squeezing Ted’s hand; the magnitude of his gaze was probably as sorrowful as Ted’s own feelings, “I don’t give a _fuck_ as to _how_ this is possible because that’s not important. What it is important is that you’re here and you’ve come back to me,” he sniffed, eyes welling a little once more. Cody’s thumb gently brushed a tear away. “Of course I was going to find you again. One way or another.”  
  
Even he was surprised though, that Ted was taking the fact that he was a bona fide vampire so well; even he had needed about three weeks to adjust to it… it had taken about three months before he had finally stopped attempting numerous escape plans to be able to leave his sire’s manor and find Ted again. He knew now that they had been serious when they had said it was for Ted’s own protection that they were kept apart. Even now, just sitting there with his (too thin and too pale but so perfectly alive and there) Ted, Cody had the strongest urge to bite him. To bite him, and drink from him, and ultimately claim him.  
  
Inhaling a shaky breath (this caused him to feel momentarily woozy, because he didn’t need to breathe more than twice a minute so the action was a bit much for him) Cody forced the urges away, locked them back the way that his clan brothers had taught him to, and then he looked back at Ted once more. Logical, down-to-earth, loyal and loving Teddy had still held on to him, for him. Sure, it hadn’t seemed to have been the best thing for Ted’s health but Cody would be lying if he said he’d be able to give Ted to someone new for the sake off a few inches… besides, he was back now; he’d get Ted healthy again. Somehow, they could make it work.  
  
“You’re still wearing your ring,” Ted said suddenly, causing Cody to blink rapidly before his gaze shot down to his hand. Amazingly, he hadn’t noticed it before then, but the pair of them were indeed still wearing their engagement rings. Ted’s parents had tried to get him to have his buried alongside Cody, and Ted had had a fit (come to think of it, hadn’t Cody’s ring been all scratched up back then?) though that temper had paled in comparison to the one he had had when he’d come home after a day out with his brothers maybe a fortnight after Cody had been buried, and found that someone had come in and cleaned the house… including the bed-sheets.  
  
No longer had they smelt like he and Cody, but instead they had smelt of washing up powder and clear air. It had broken something inside of Ted to no longer have the soothing scent of his lover; even if he hadn’t been able to sleep curling up with Cody’s pillow and burrowed in their covers had given him some sense of security, of peace… and they had ruined that. Albeit for his own good, but they had still ruined it… and Ted had proceeded to trash the flat in retaliation… a lot of the broken nick-knacks were still in pieces, but back where they had been placed before. “Yeah,” Cody said softly, “A… friend got in cleaned up for me,” he added.  
  
“That was nice of them,” Ted murmured, knowing how surreal this moment was and yet uncaring. Cody nodded, “He saw how it’d been… messed up that day,” he said delicately, glossing over the fact his blood and dirt from the alley-way where he had been accosted had been on the item even after the best efforts of the workers of the funeral home attempting to clean it when they had dressed Cody for burial, “---and said he could fix it.” As one they squeezed the other’s hands and exchanged shy smiles; in a weird way it was almost like back when they had started dating, when they would just sit there, shyly silent, stealing glances at one another as they held hands.  
  
Suddenly, the clock on the mantle began to strike three in the morning and Cody tensed before letting a sudden, and violent curse, fall from between his plush lips; his fangs had since retracted, but in his mind’s-eye Ted could still see them. “Wh-What is it?” he asked, wondering if he had done something wrong--- and feeling a small prickle down his spine that made him want to run. The notion itself though was ridiculous and he shoved it away; he had never, ever run away from Cody, and he wasn’t about to start now. But, even though he hadn’t run it seemed Cody had sensed that momentary need that he had wanted to, because he quailed back.  
  
Shame and self-loathing dripped from each syllable of his words as he spoke, “I need to go; it’ll be dawn soon and I have a bit of a drive ahead of me, and you need to get some sleep as well.” Just as he stood up though, a hand seized his wrist and held on with a desperate tightness that would probably have bruised him had he still been human. And it was clear that even in Ted’s panic he seemed to have accepted that Cody wasn’t quite as _fragile_ as he had used to be, because he would never have even _dreamed_ of hurting Cody in the past… not unless it was through something that Cody had asked for of course, and even then he was careful about it.  
  
“Don’t go,” the words were thick with fear and a plea, his eyes shining afresh with tears, “Don’t leave me again Cody, baby, sweetheart, please--- please, please—“Ted was beginning to babble and Cody felt his unbeating heart breaking anew at how damaged his death had made Ted. Having Cody back in his life was probably the last thing that Ted needed, but God would have to strike him down personally before Cody would refuse the chance. “Shush Teddy-bear, shush,” Cody soothed, his other hand coming up and beginning to stroke through Ted’s hair in a soothing manner, “Baby, baby-bear, listen to me—“Cody cooed to him softly.  
  
Eventually Ted quietened down enough for Cody to speak, clinging to Cody’s middle almost like a terrified child by this point as Cody held him back and gently rocked him from side to side. “I’m not going away permanently,” he promised, “Tomorrow night I’ll come and see you again and then we can talk some more Ok?” he asked. Ted’s immediate nod had the ghost of a smile coming to Cody’s lips. “I need you to go to bed for me and get some sleep; can you do that?” Even as the question left him though Cody knew that the nod Ted was going to give him would be a lie; he knew the hallmarks that indicated Ted hadn’t been sleeping well for a _long_ time.  
  
Making a split-second decision (and again uncaring that he would probably get into trouble for it) Cody began to lead Ted back to the bedroom. Everything was the same, right down to their bed-sheets and the picture frames of them both on the walls and on the vanity table. Cody knew that had his heart been able to beat it would have been pounding then, and had he been able to cry then he would have been malling like a baby. “Get undressed,” Cody said, voice shaking slightly, “And then get into bed.” He had seen Ted naked countless times, had worshipped him with eyes, fingers and mouth, but it seemed almost inappropriate to watch him even strip to his boxers now.  
  
With barely a moment’s hesitation Ted did as he was told, though the weary, frightened look he sent Cody said that he really didn’t want to go to sleep, or even doubted that he could. Moving, Cody kneeled down besides Ted. “Go to sleep, Teddy,” he whispered, stroking the blonde’s hair but doing his best to unleash the full-force of his gaze upon the elder, “Go to sleep, and have sweet dreams, and then tomorrow night we’ll see each other again.” After about five minutes of this repeated mantra Ted’s eyes began to droop a little, and within ten minutes later he was out like a light, dead to the world, if you’d pardon the pun.  
  
Tucking Ted in securely (and stealing a gentle kiss from those luscious coral lips) Cody then headed around the house and made sure the windows and backdoor were locked –Ted had grown frighteningly lax with home security he had seen, as though he was hoping for some horrible crime to befall him- before then walking out of the front door and locking that too… He still had his house keys on him. Forcing himself to the car (he really had to leave now otherwise he’d be dust in the wind) Cody was soon driving off down the street and back to his sire’s manor, elated and heart-broken all at once, but his resolve was set:  
  
_Tomorrow he would see Ted again, and tomorrow he would begin to make it right._  
  
                                                                                                                              ~:~  
  
It was pleasant for Randy just to lie there, John having rolled off him when Randy let him to take his weight from Randy’s chest although it wasn’t as if he could crush him or anything. He had been fed and fucked and mortal or not, wasn’t that what every man called contentment?  
  
John seemed perfectly happy where he was too. He hadn’t acted any differently or seemed affected in any way by what Randy thought he had heard and he was beginning to wonder if he had merely imagined it. Which led to the uncomfortable thought that it could be wish fulfilment and there was a can of worms he certainly didn’t need to open.  
  
It had been more years than he cared to remember when he had first run into John – he had been back home from a stint in a dirty overseas war that he was chagrined to find barely made a ripple in history. He had joined the army at eighteen, having no desire to settle down and work on the ranch his father and uncle owned, or to marry the girl he had been expected to become engaged to just as soon as they were old enough. His father and uncle had understood, his mother and his girl had been devastated but he had wanted to see the world, more of life than he so far had done and he needed some space too since he had been getting very conflicted over the thought of spending his life with a girl he knew he wasn’t all that attracted to. She had offered to give him her virginity if he stayed, claiming he could be killed if he went but he hadn’t been swayed. Nor had he been killed in the war. That had come later and close to home when he had stopped at a small town for a room on his way back and decided on a whim to have a drink in the tavern. He had been sitting there alone a while when another man had walked in and Randy had taken one look at the broadly built man with short hair and the bluest eyes Randy had ever seen. In that moment Randy decided he wanted – and it had seemed as if John had _wanted_ something from _him_ too. Sadly not what Randy had thought it would be.  
  
The moment he opened his eyes and saw only darkness, he had panicked. He _knew_ something was wrong and not just because he couldn’t see. He took a breath, discovered he was inhaling dirt and not dying, realised it was the first breath he had taken for a while. That was when he had started to claw his way to the surface, tearing his fingernails in his urgency, finally breaking from the grave he had been dumped in and taking a deep breath of cool night air that had made his head swim. He wasn’t panting, he wasn’t light-headed and he didn’t need to take in another breath. And he was _hungry_.  
  
There had been no one to teach him anything about the life he’d so recently been born into and he had picked it up as he went along. Those first few years had led to a lot of bodies piling up before he had learned to control himself properly and take only what he needed. He’d wandered, not settling down, not going home, not allowing himself close to anyone unless he was feeding from them. He had never enjoyed controlling himself and doing so then had been hard. But he had gotten through it and had eventually he had decided to see if he could do as John had and turn people himself – and yes, he could, although he had never done so to someone unwilling, or stolen a life. Mostly he had given back the _chance_ of life. Being able to smell blood with shark-like ability meant that he had happened upon a lot of the near-dead and un-saveable.  
  
In the many, many years that followed he had looked for John but not found him. He assumed this was lucky for _John_ because he had some serious payback in mind. He’d had a life and John had _killed_ him. He could have begrudgingly admitted that he rather appreciated his new strength and speed, that the thought of not aging or dying in the usual time was grimly satisfying. But John had _killed_ him and there was no way he would let that go unpunished. Except that when he had happened upon John completely by chance – he had actually settled in one place with the rest of his clan and John, still the nomad, had wandered through his territory completely oblivious to him (he thought so at least). He hadn’t thought, he had merely attacked, would have been secure in the knowledge that he was wily and battle-scarred after so many years and there was no way the other could get the better of him, but in honesty his rage was too great for him to be thinking anything of the sort. He’d had his ass handed to him in record time and it was only later that he reflected on something that should have occurred to him earlier; none of his own children could best him in any way, so why should it be different for himself and his own sire?  
  
John knew some of that, the bare details that Randy had supplied when he had been asked. John seemed unable to believe that he had survived and thrived on his own, had real problems understanding it. Randy couldn’t see why he found it so tough to believe and he knew nothing at all of how John had come to be as he was. John had never spoken of it and Randy’s tentative questions had only led to evasiveness and on the occasions he’d pushed for more, John had left altogether. The topic was _out of bounds_ , Randy got it, but it didn’t mean that he had to like it.  
  
He didn’t know where John lived because John always came to him. He didn’t know what John’s life had been like when he was alive, if he’d ever had a clan or had been as much a wanderer as Randy had been after his rebirth. It was maddening.  
  
But he knew that John regretted feeding from Randy as violently as he had done, that he had never known that Randy had come back until he had attacked, that he awoke something in Randy that he had never felt before, alive or dead. Against all logic, he trusted John.  
  
And he knew that even if John had not spoken those words aloud before, he had still heard them.  
  
Randy would have liked to make some casual enquiries that would answer some of the questions that he had, the small ones and the more serious ones. But he had other things on his mind as well as his lover and their strange, more serious than they’d both like to admit relationship. Namely that his latest child Cody had yet to return… and it had been only a few nights ago that he had decided Cody could be trusted, was _safe_ enough, to be out on his own. Being safe was important, because this was not like the days when he had been newly woken. In those times there had been whispers around the fire from person to person, rumours and suggestion. A man could disappear in a world like that one and leave behind only a myth and a bloodless body that told its discoverers nothing. In these days of instant communication, photographic evidence and forensics, there was no telling what carelessness could do to them. Certainly it could expose them all and then there would be no end of trouble.  
  
John turned his head to watch as Randy rose from the bed, stretching himself out and exposing the toned back and incredibly tight ass that kept John going back for more over and over again. John raised his eyebrows as Randy went to the closet and found himself an unmolested pair of jeans, considering a moment and then putting a designer t-shirt along with it – being undead meant they had nothing but time to wait for their investments to mature and Randy had done very well in _that_ department, albeit with some help. “Is there some reason you’re getting out of bed? I wasn’t aware we were done.”  
  
Randy gave a slight chuckle. At their age they didn’t always sleep throughout the day, although the younger of them couldn’t help themselves and mere striplings like Cody would simply drop the moment the sun peeked over the horizon. It certainly had some advantages when they didn’t want to stop altogether by sunrise – and he supposed that this meant John would be staying the day again. That was just fine with him. “It’s gone four and Cody isn’t back yet.”  
  
“Is he okay?”  
  
An irritated _how would I know_ might have been the stock answer had he asked about most people, but Cody was one of Randy’s children and as such, he could usually tell. Had he been asked to describe it, Randy would have said it was sensing the _shape_ of emotions, like reading someone’s face when they weren’t actually there. He couldn’t read Cody’s thoughts but he could usually grasp his feelings. And he could always tell when one of his children was hurt.  
  
“He seems fine,” said Randy, sitting on the edge of the bed and resting his elbows on his knees as John scooted across the bed, lying on his side and propping up his head on his hand so he could watch Randy more easily. “Happy even. There’s something not quite right though. I think there’s something bothering him.”  
  
John took all of this at face value, although he only had one child of his own and he had been unaware of it for a long time; he had never realised those vague feelings of unease or euphoria might be from a source outside of himself until he had actually found Randy still alive. “Is he on his way back?”  
  
Randy shook him a fond but irritated look. “How would I know that?” John smirked.  
  
“Sorry, I was forgetting.” He considered a moment. “Isn’t he leaving it close to sunrise?”  
  
“He’s too young. He should be back here before four to be safe.”  
  
“Did you compel him?” “No,” admitted Randy. He was able to demand certain things of his children that they _had_ to obey – they would find their bodies acting contrary to what their minds wanted should their sire have used that power. It didn’t work however if their sire’s command ran counter to their survival instinct and occasionally even morals could get in the way. Much of it relied on mental strength. Randy didn’t like to compel his children to use anything, it was too forced for him and although he could manipulate with the best of them, he preferred his children to use their own free will and do as he said out of respect. Also, he had a sneaking fear that overuse would render the gift less powerful, the children less susceptible and more practiced in disobeying. He kept it for when it was really needed.  
  
“He’s not been going out solo for long, has he?” When Randy shook his head, John sat up and rested a hand on Randy’s shoulder. “Well, you know how it is. You tend to get the urge for indoors when it gets too close.”  
  
“True.” But Randy didn’t seem convinced.  
  
John frowned. “What’s bugging you?”  
  
Randy shrugged, then sighed. “When I found Cody, he’d been beaten to death. Not that he was dead already, obviously, but he had a couple of minutes before he bled out. I don’t really know what happened – looked to me like he’d been dragged into an alley and robbed by three guys, they were all still there and they had his wallet, but he freaked out when they tried to take his ring and once they decided to use force, they didn’t know where to stop.”  
  
John nodded, he had seen scenes like that once or twice over his long years.  
  
“I used lethal force. Not that I regret it for a moment of course, those guys were _still_ kicking him and laughing about it. I think they got the fright of their lives. It was just a shame I couldn’t leave the bodies so that his family knew there’d been some justice done. I didn’t plan on turning Cody at first but…” Randy indicated with his hands as he tried to find the words. “There was this air about him. He wasn’t scared or angry, he was… sad. Incredibly sad. I knelt down with him, I’d been planning to end it because he wouldn’t last ‘til I got an ambulance out but he tried to grab me before I could do it. He said _tell Teddy I’m sorry, I love him._ And I turned him because he had everything in front of him stolen and it didn’t seem _fair_.”  
  
John didn’t say anything about this, although it occurred to him that Randy had a compassionate streak a mile wide no matter how much he tried to deny it. “Cody was married?”  
  
“Engaged. They were supposed to be getting married that year.”  
  
“I see.” John paused for a moment. “You think Cody’s stalking his fiancé?”  
  
Randy shook his head slowly, a gesture of uncertainty rather than denial. “When he was first turned, you know how it is. You’re headstrong, you can’t be told. You want what you want and you _take_. Cody knew it wasn’t in his best interests to leave the manor and go after Ted but he tried, over and over. He finally accepted that he wasn’t going to be able to control himself around Ted, we had to prove it to him and it was only because he was scared of hurting Ted without meaning to that he let himself be educated – and he tried so hard, I’ve never let anyone else out roaming alone this soon after being changed. He just wants to get back to Ted. But he’s been warned not to approach him…”  
  
Randy rubbed his forehead and John leant his head on Randy’s shoulder. “You think he’d stay away?”  
  
“No. I don’t think he’d harm Ted but I shouldn’t have let him go alone. Not yet. It’s a risk for Cody _and_ Ted and I don’t mean physically. Ted thinks Cody’s dead and he’s not doing well. I’ve been keeping an eye on him for Cody and – well, I might have lied a little about how he was coping. I didn’t need Cody chasing him before he was ready to. Cody needs to restrain himself from going near Ted until we’ve worked out some way of doing it right. Or whether it should be done at all.”  
  
“Hey, Cody’s not dumb and it sounds like he’d do anything to avoid hurting Ted,” said John comfortingly, although he thought that if it had been him, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself.  
  
“Yeah. But—“ Randy seemed to consider whether or not he was going to speak and did anyway. “I’ve never seen them together but even so… it’s like they’re bonded. I know Ted’s human but that’s what it reminds me of.”  
  
John let out a chuckle – the comment about humans was typical of vampire arrogance and Randy had plenty of that without the fangs. But the _bonded_ comment made him think a little. It was something that vampires did on occasion, a way of claiming a mate for themselves and no one else. It put all kinds of restrictions on their feeding habits and on occasion their emotional stability but the advantages included a heightened awareness of their mates thoughts and emotions… and from what John understood, when two people were meant to be bonded then they were simply unable to help himself. He had never heard Randy speak of it before and had always assumed the man would think it myth, superstition, bullshit.  
  
He looked at Randy’s profile and then leaned up, pushing all thoughts of bonding away quickly. Who needed _that_ hassle? “Maybe they’re supposed to be. It’s not like it can be controlled. And in that case, Cody’s gonna be doing anything he can to protect Ted, including backing off.”  
  
“I shouldn’t have let him go alone,” repeated Randy and then looked back at John and gave a humourless laugh. “I’ve been distracted lately though. Get some pants on Cena, I’m gonna go wait for him.”  
  
“And you want me there?” John was actually a little surprised by this but he accepted it. “I don’t know that I can unless I go naked, since you’ve about killed my jeans.”  
  
“They’re wearable. Unlike _my_ favourite pair.”  
  
“Oh, stop bitching.” John considered a moment and headed to the wardrobe. By unspoken consent he had left a couple of items there, price tags still on. Not because he was spending more time there, more nights (although he was) but because he and Randy were both incredibly strong and the sex tended toward the rough… or that was what he told himself when he was stashing away items that suggested he would be back in Randy’s house again. Once dressed, the pair of them headed to the stairs and were half-way down when the front door opened with a bang that suggested someone was in a big hurry to enter. The front doors were damned heavy and it took some effort to even shove them open, unless one had inhuman strength of course.  
  
Less than a second after the front door banged open, there was a matching bang from the direction of the bedrooms and a moment later a blur fell past the stairs. Randy rolled his eyes. While Cody was the latest addition to the household he wasn’t the latest addition to the clan; that dubious honour went to the man who had just foregone the stairs in favour of simply leaping from the top directly to the bottom. He supposed it helped to know that a broken ankle wouldn’t actually be a serious or even debilitating injury for longer than the duration of the night. That there had never _been_ a bad landing was mildly offensive. He was pretty sure that if he tried the same thing, he’d be hobbling around on knackered legs all evening and unable to chase the bastards taking the piss out of him for it.  
  
Evan Bourne landed on his feet, went into a neat little roll and was back on his feet in a second, fidgeting anxiously. Having been a vampire less time than Cody, he was not able to go outside alone yet in case he couldn’t control his urges and as such, he had been planning to live vicariously through Cody. Not that he never left the house, but not alone; Evan’s sire was deadly serious about him taking things slowly and since Evan had no one in the mortal world he needed to get back to, it seemed likely that it could be years before he was deemed ready. Not that Randy thought Evan minded all _that_ much but he knew that although a couple of years was nothing once one had twenty or thirty changeless years under their belt, to a vampire who’d just been turned it could seem like forever. One of the hangovers from humanity he supposed and one of the reasons he’d had difficulty keeping Cody restrained.  
  
Speaking of Cody… he stopped at the foot of the stairs, John by his side, as Cody entered the house properly and slammed the door behind him. There was a distance of around five metres between them but even from that he could see the beam on Cody’s face. Evan saw it too and immediately started firing questions at Cody, without giving him much time to answer. Randy wanted to laugh but didn’t; Evan was so enthusiastic about everything that it was hard to believe sometimes that he actually _sought out_ his sire and expressed unshakable determination to join their clan for his sake. Randy would have thought he loved life too much – apparently though, there was something else he loved more.  
  
Cody hadn’t even _noticed_ Randy, which was just how Randy wanted it, observing quietly although he made no attempt to hide himself. Evan finally stopped with the questions when he took a proper look at Cody and saw how bright his eyes were and the way his smile simply refused to leave his face, no matter how hard he tried. Evan tilted his head slightly, suspicion creeping into his face. “Cody – I don’t think I ever saw you look so happy. Did you _see_ him?”  
  
Cody nodded, then gave a quick burst of overjoyed laughter. “I saw him, I was just gonna walk past the apartment building and he came _out_ and got into his friends car…” Cody gave that laugh again. “I was so excited I thought my heart might beat!”  
  
It was Evan’s turn to laugh; their hearts worked differently to humans but it wasn’t true that they had no heartbeat at all. “How did he look?”  
  
Cody’s smile slipped a little. “He looked beautiful Ev. He always did. But he’s lost weight and he hadn’t shaved, he always said he didn’t like how having a beard made his face itch. And Ev, he was so _sad_. I followed him into the club and I could feel it from all the way across the room. And I couldn’t help it…”  
  
Evan grew almost completely still, something those that knew him would have called impossible. “What did you do Codes?”  
  
“Yeah, tell us Cody.” Randy spoke from the stairs, startling both of the younger men. Cody whipped his head around to look at his sire, guilt spreading across his features while Evan looked nervous, going to chew on his lip and stopping when he realised he’d allowed his fangs to slip out.  
  
“I only went over there for a second,” said Cody quietly. “Too fast for him to see me. I just wanted – I don’t know. To see into his eyes, to be close to him even for a moment. He didn’t even see me but – he knew. I don’t know how, maybe he sensed me or smelled me or something, but he _knew_. He turned around looking for me and he just looked…” Cody shook his head. “So I let him find me. I had to.” He raised his head, looking defiant. “Everything I’ve done to make myself safe, all that work to curb my instincts and control myself. It was all for him. I’m _safe_ Randy, you _trust_ me to be out alone. Why couldn’t I approach Ted? I knew I couldn’t harm him.”  
  
“He’s pale,” said John in a voice so low that Randy barely heard and knew that Cody and Evan hadn’t. The comment was in a mild tone but Randy got the point of the observation right away.  
  
“Did you feed tonight?”  
  
Cody took a breath he didn’t need. “I was going to but I didn’t expect Ted to even leave. I just wanted to see the light on and know he was there. Things kinda got away from me.”  
  
Randy set his jaw grimly. “Let’s continue this in the kitchen, get some nourishment before you undo all the damned work you did and go feral the moment you wake up.”  
  
Cody might have blushed if he’d been able; as it was he merely followed Randy meekly into the kitchen, although he had no intention of being meek should Randy decide to lay down the law. Ted was the one thing he had always fought for and always would.  
  
“Ev,” said Randy as Cody went for the fridge – there were two in the kitchen, one that they kept normal food in both for appearances sake and for possible human visitors, which were not as rare as one might think, the other for their own emergency food sources. They all preferred their food fresh from the source, but when one was hungry there was plenty to be said for what was available and there was a veritable blood bank kept chilled. Cody took out two bags of A positive, poured them into a cup and set it in the microwave, pretending not to listen to Randy’s quick word with Evan. He had a feeling what might be said.  
  
“Dawn’s approaching,” Randy said mildly to the youngest of them. “Not that I’m chasing you out…”  
  
Evan had gotten the message, though he glanced over at Cody to see if he wanted the moral support. Cody gave an almost imperceptible nod and Randy fought away a frown. That was the trouble with having vampires around that _weren’t_ your own children, they were far less likely to just do as he requested. Maybe he had been spoiled in the last few decades since he had only lived with the vampires he sired himself, but now he had both Evan and John in the house and he’d noticed that both were quite capable of insubordination. Most noticeably when Evan had called him Grandpa, which had Randy choking on his O negative and John in hysterics.  
  
The microwave pinged and Evan headed out, going back to his room – Randy hadn’t been lying about the sunrise and although he supposed it looked like favouritism that he hadn’t told John to leave, it wasn’t like that. It was just that John could withstand the sunrise, although he wasn’t able to go out in it he wasn’t a slave to the dawn as they had all been for a couple of decades after they changed. Cody removed his cup from the microwave and took a deep swig, suddenly realising he was ravenous and glugging the rest in several long swallows. Randy reflected that with the colour coming back to his cheeks he might have been some human young man enjoying a hot drink or snack. The slight red moustache might even have been tomato soup. Maybe, if one didn’t look too closely.  
  
“It was dangerous to go there without feeding,” said Randy, not wanting to get at Cody but knowing that as sire, it was his job to remind Cody of the lessons he had tried to drill into the younger over the last couple of years. The ones that Cody had completely forgotten when he laid his eyes on his love.  
  
“I didn’t so much as twitch toward his jugular!”  
  
“Or think about it?” When Cody looked guilty, Randy nodded. “If you’re going to be around Ted, then you’re going to have to be smarter than that Cody.”  
  
Cody blinked, the grin threatening to come over his face again, if slightly surprised this time. “You mean, you’re not gonna try and stop me from seeing Ted?”  
  
“The damage is already done—“  
  
Randy didn’t get a chance to finish the thought; Cody was across the kitchen and had his arms around Randy’s neck faster than the human eye could see, hugging his sire excitedly. “Thank you, thank you, you don’t know what this means to me—“  
  
“I didn’t say there wouldn’t be conditions,” added Randy dryly, but there was a ghost of a smile on his own lips. Cody let him go and John smirked, forcing himself not to comment. Randy was positively _soft_. “Tell me what happened tonight.”  
  
Cody did so, explaining how Ted had chased him out, how he had revealed himself for what he was and how Ted had accepted that rather than lose Cody a second time. By the time he had finished, Randy looked rather grim.  
  
“You never told me,” Cody said in a somewhat accusing tone. “You were keeping an eye on him but you didn’t say he was _fading_. You didn’t tell me he’d given up.”  
  
“What good would it have done?” Randy leant against the kitchen table and shrugged, feeling no guilt at all. He didn’t think he needed to feel that. “You would have worried too much, pushed too hard, thought you were ready before you were. If you’d seen him, you would have been _desperate_ to get to him and you know it would have ended badly for you both. You couldn’t have been ready as fast with the distraction of knowing. I watched out for him and made sure no harm came to him before you were ready.”  
  
John gave Randy a sideways look, wondering just how far Randy had gone to ensure that. Their powers of suggestion were intense when it came to humans and there was every chance that Randy could have approached Ted sometime in the last two years, ordered him to keep on going and to forget what he had just seen and Ted would have blindly obeyed, for a short time at least. But then, it didn’t sound as if Ted had been coping well and surely Randy would have suggested at the same time that Ted took better care of himself. Unless he had done and this was as far away from falling apart as Ted could manage without Cody with him.  
  
Randy gave no sign whether or not this was the case, and of course John was only guessing anyway. “You said you’d go back to him tomorrow night.”  
  
“Yeah, and I will.”  
  
Cody’s tone dared Randy to tell him otherwise, but Randy didn’t rise to the bait. “Bring him back here.”  
  
“…Excuse me?”  
  
Cody looked completely bemused at the suggestion and John didn’t blame him, he was confused himself. Randy ignored their mystification though. “Cody, you were human yourself not that long ago – although I suppose it’s easier to see from the outside. Human minds are fragile sometimes. They like rational explanations and you put something like us in front of them and they don’t know how to take it. They’d rather believe that they’ve dreamed or hallucinated than the evidence of their own eyes if it doesn’t gel with what they know about the world. Force them to accept it and there’s a good chance of a complete psychotic break from reality. I’ve seen it happen before.”  
  
Cody frowned, lower lip sticking out slightly as he first pouted and then started to really worry. “But – Evan was human when I got here. He wasn’t worried about us. _He_ accepted we were real.”  
  
“Some people can accept it.” Randy shrugged again. “I don’t know what it is that some people are more, uh, rigid than others. Evan looked at us, worked out what we were and changed his world view. Some people can’t do that.”  
  
Cody turned big, pleading eyes on Randy, seriously starting to get afraid and Randy relented slightly. “This is why I wanted to have some kind of _plan_ before we approached Ted and told him you were alive. Ish. But from what you said, it sounds like he might be like Evan, he can accept that you’re alive and vampires exist – probably because he likes that better than the alternative. But you must have noticed he’s fragile right now Cody. I think we need to explain a few things to him and monitor how he does. Make sure that we don’t overload him because honestly Cody, just knowing that you’re not dead is likely enough to overload him without the extra shit.”  
  
Slowly, Cody nodded. “I guess you’re right. And Ted might be fragile right now but he got through this far because he’s strong underneath that. Really strong. He’ll be—“  
  
Cody broke off, putting a hand to his forehead a moment and mentally cursing. “He’ll cope with—“  
  
It was no good. Outside, the sun had appeared over the horizon and even though not even a trace of sunlight could penetrate the building – the kitchen didn’t even _have_ windows – he swayed a moment, then closed his eyes and was out for the count.  
  
John moved so fast that Cody had barely started to fall before he caught him, hoisting the youngest over his shoulder and glancing at Randy. “Perhaps you should have cut off the conversation five minutes earlier?”  
  
“I would have liked it to go about half an hour more, the damned jackass,” replied Randy. “I hate when the sun works against me. Can’t even finish up tomorrow, you know he’ll be out of the house and to Ted before the stars even come out. After the world’s fastest shower.”  
  
John chuckled a little – it was a joke that although they could do most things speedily, showering was not one of them because they were dependant on how fast the water could flow. And because they didn’t drink water, they often relied on showers, rainfall and the like to hydrate themselves. “I’ll take him up to his room, can I expect to find you in yours?”  
  
Randy grinned. There wasn’t much chance that anything would happen between them – while they didn’t collapse as spectacularly as Cody had the moment daybreak hit, the sunlight still made them sluggish and weakened – but John couldn’t leave as long as the sun shone and anyway, Randy was sure he could make up for it once it went down.  
  
Plus there was the fact he _liked_ having John resting beside him, an arm slung over his stomach or spooned against his back. He liked the man’s closeness while he was at his most vulnerable, liked waking with the other beside him. The light banter, the serious conversation, even the failed attempts to get more information from John – he liked it all. And of course, there was what he had heard, or thought he had heard that morning.  
  
_My precious Randy – I love you…_  
  
He headed for the stairs before John had the chance to follow with Cody. Those were not the kind of thoughts he was comfortable with and that John was his sire and his long-time object of hatred until very recently only made things all the more complicated. Randy was not used to having anyone capable of making him do anything and although John never had made him do something he wouldn’t want, he knew that John _could_. And he might not even have to use the power of the sire-childe bond to do so.  
  
He certainly never saw any of this coming when he had run into John again.


	3. Meeting The 'Family'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted wonders if the reunion with Cody was all a dream... And then living arrangements change on more than one front.

When Ted awoke the next morning he was immediately seized by that… _crushing_ sensation one felt when they had awoken much too soon from an amazing dream. As he lay there, trying to clear the fog from his mind and get his bearings, a sudden thought had him flying upright in his bed, looking around wildly. _Cody. Cody had been there._ He had really, really been there. Wrapping his arms around himself Ted then released something of a hysterical giggle, and then the giggle erupted into laughter, and suddenly, before he knew it, he was crying and laughing at the same time. The tears were rolling thick and fast down his cheeks as he continued to laugh for a good few minutes.   
  
Finally, when the rather wild sound died down, Ted wiped his eyes and cheeks on the back of his hand before exhaling a shaking breath. Though such an emotional outburst might be considered more the norm from him because of his inability to cope with Cody’s passing he knew that had any of his family, or indeed Cody’s (they had been around quite a lot to try and help make him move on even though it was clear that none of the Rhodes’ family had moved on themselves) had seen that happening they would have carted him off immediately for a nice indeterminate term eating mashed apricots and finger-painting. Pushing the covers back Ted got up slowly.   
  
Stretching his spine out slowly, Ted looked at the clock--- and almost fell back into bed in shock when he noticed it was already two in the afternoon. If he had managed to get sleep since Cody’s passing he had barely managed to sleep past six in the morning at the latest. Shaking himself somewhat to try and adjust to the knowledge that he had slept over half a day away, Ted then headed through to the kitchen. The rumble in his stomach provoked weaker feelings in him than he had experienced once-upon-a-time when he didn’t eat regularly, but the sensation was more of an appetite than he had had for two years now and so he made some toast.   
  
Once that was finished (and he had had a thorough shower and shave, changing into admittedly one of his dresser and, as Cody had always called it ‘ghetto-booty flattering’) outfits the blonde then made his way down to the local library. He gained many an odd look from the assistants there as he hefted a stack of books –the maximum that you were allowed to retrieve at once- onto the counter-top, card at the ready to borrow them. Each and every one was about the topic of vampires. And, once he had gotten the books Ted had then headed to a local DVD/Video rental place and had purchased several vampire-themed films. He needed all the info he could get.   
  
Sure, he knew the basics (no garlic, no sunlight, stake through the heart or head chopped off to kill them) but there had to be more to it, much more… especially since Cody had already disproved one of the main vampire myths the night before when he had walked into their home in lieu of an explicit invitation. Heaving the books and DVD’s through into the house when he arrived back, Ted dumped his haul onto the coffee-table, which creaked ominously under the weight, and then kicked off his shoes. Heading into the kitchen he fetched himself a coffee and then returned to the living-room where he whacked the first film on, and settled down with a book at the same time.   
  
This was the scene that Cody walked into several hours later, once the sun had gone down. As Randy had predicted the night before, unbeknownst to the younger vampire of course, he had been up the second the sun was down and he’d had the quickest shower he could physically bring himself to have before he then dressed and all but fled out of the house before any of his clan brothers had even awoken for the night. “Teddy?” the vampire blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted immediately to the blazing over-head lights of the living-room, looking to the blonde surrounded by books and with a cheesy black-and-white film playing on the TV.   
  
Slowly, almost like he was in a trance (and hadn’t that always been what he had likened it to when Ted had been involved in something since they had even first gotten together?) Ted’s head lifted from the thickish book that he had braced open on his lap. “C-Cody?” he asked hazily, as though struggling to bring his mind to the present. Moving towards the coffee table Cody picked up the DVD box, reading it with some intrigue. “Never would have figured silent films would have been your kind of thing,” Cody mused, “You were always more partial to those military-shoot-‘em-up type films.” Ted blinked slowly, and then a little quicker.   
  
“You’re actually here again. I wasn’t dreaming. You really are here.” Ted placed the book aside (after marking his place with a slip of paper that had his therapist’s name of it, ironically) the blonde then stood up and climbed over the pile of books beside him and moved to Cody. Cody sensed that Ted was going to trip over a flipped-over edge of the carpet before the blonde had even actually begun to do just that, and so he was before Ted mere seconds later, catching the blonde in his arm with ease and using the excuse to embrace him carefully before he then righted him back to his feet. “I told you I was coming back,” he said softly to him.   
  
The ravenette felt warmer than he had the night before, Ted thought to himself, his hands were no longer the icy-cold that they had been yesterday, but they were still cooler than the usual person’s hands. Of course, Cody was apparently so far from a normal person now that it wasn’t even funny. Indeed, the fact that he was surrounded by books and films about a creature that he had always deemed as being a figment of someone’s (occasionally very twisted if ingenious) imagination was probably funnier than that. Drawing back from the embrace just enough to look at Cody, Ted then cocked his head to the side, assessing him.   
  
The open scrutiny in Ted’s eyes made Cody want to shift uncomfortably, to undoubtedly let the other know that he was hiding something for him (granted, in this instance what he was hiding was that he had recently fed but still) but he managed to hold back. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, wondering if he could pass off the other’s examination with something of a segue. “Y-Yes, I did, thank you,” Ted said, somewhat hazily, obviously knowing in the back of his mind that there was _something_ that he should be asking the other about but also having the inclination just to go with the new topic since Cody had made a point to swap things around, “Did you?”   
  
The surprise on Cody’s face would have been amusing under other circumstances, but as it was Ted felt an odd sensation in his chest. “Sorry… I don’t even know if vampires sleep,” he admitted softly, sheepishly. Waiving the words of Cody tapped one of his (surprisingly still well-manicured) fingers to his chin and then confessed, “I’ve never really thought of it as ‘sleeping’…” the others at the manor all called it ‘resting’ because although the state usually lasted from sun-set to sun-rise and vice versa, if their safety was threatened then their instincts would know to wake them up immediately so that they could defend themselves from the threat or to merely escape from it.   
  
“So, what do you do?” Ted asked, wondering if vampires somehow managed to carry on and carry on without any sort of break. “It’s just…” Cody wasn’t really sure how to explain it, especially not to someone who had never experienced it in the way that he had. “It’s like a… meditative state I think, or like a coma, but we can make ourselves wake up as of when we wish to,” he ran a hand through his hair, feeling each small strand tickling his fingertips as he moved them through the gelled tresses. Ted nodded slowly, unspeaking, merely just looking at Cody. His hand twitched, as though wanting to reach for the other, but he seemed to be holding back.   
  
Quite unwelcome, Ted felt an uneasy and almost angry sensation go through him; why did Cody keep hesitating like that when it came to touching him? Pushing aside the odd feeling (maybe he should have given himself something more by the way of a break during his mass-researching session because it was probably a headache or something that was affecting him) Ted then motioned for Cody to come and sit down beside him, and after a moment Cody did as he was bid. Almost instinctively the pair reached for one another’s hands, Ted’s warm fingers curling through Cody’s just-a-bit-too-cool ones and squeezing them firmly.   
  
As Ted leaned in for a kiss though, Cody’s other hand came up and rested on the blonde’s chest, keeping him in place without having to exert any effort at all… had he still been human then he would have had push quite firmly to have halted Ted in his movement. The confusion and hurt that flashed through Ted’s eyes had Cody panicking immediately, the uncertain statement of, “You never used to stop me kissing you…” increasing the vampire’s inner-turmoil. And, as his clan brothers had always told him (and then Evan when he had been changed) they would, his fangs grew, crowding his mouth. “Teddy, no, wait, that’s not it--!”   
  
Before Ted could interrupt Cody then carried on, “I just… I’m a little frightened; I may not look it, but I am a lot stronger than I once was and I don’t want to accidentally lose control and hurt you…” and one of the best ways that Ted had always had to make Cody lose control in the past had been when he had kissed him. Depending on the type of kiss Ted could soothe or arouse Cody powerfully, almost to a degree that had frightened Cody on occasion in the past. Now though, the thing that frightened him the most was the chance that he might injure his loved one. The expression Ted had on his face was unreadable, but he had always been better at hiding his feelings than Cody had been.  
  
“Kiss me,” he then repeated and for a moment Cody could only stare at Ted as though he had lost his mind, “Did you _not_ hear what I just said?” he asked incredulously. Ted’s face remained serious, “Kiss me, Cody. You won’t hurt me. And if you don’t kiss me, then--- then---“Ted sought some sort of threat that he could use on the ravenette, “If you don’t kiss me then I won’t believe that you still love me.” It was a cheap shot to take and he knew it, but he’d had nothing more than that chaste brush of lips the night before and if Cody didn’t kiss him soon… then, really, what was he supposed to think regarding their relationship? “I know you won’t hurt me,” he said softly.   
  
Cody almost wanted to laugh; Ted seemed to have somehow misunderstood his earlier sentiment, and he seemed to believe that he was the only one that wanted a kiss. That was so far from true it was in orbit to the reality. Swallowing slightly Cody took a moment to compose himself; he could do this, he had been training _specifically_ for the past _two years_ to be able to do something like this without causing Ted and injury… though maybe the reason of obtaining a kiss from his still-human lover wasn’t generally on the syllabus. “Just… Please Teddy, don’t move,” if Ted moved all of a sudden then he may just lash out on instinct despite himself.   
  
Nodding just a little, Ted’s eyes then fluttered closed as Cody’s fingers spanned over his cheeks, cupping his face as though he was the most precious thing in the world to him. Cody had never failed to make him completely aware of how much he loved him and even two years of separation, of death attempting to separate them, hadn’t dampened that. The first touch of lips was tentative, as though Cody was testing the action out, but when Ted pushed his body forward just a tiny bit, actively participating in the kiss, it seemed that some of Cody’s restraint broke. Cody’s hands moved to the couch back behind him as Ted’s arms went around his waist.   
  
The sound of tearing fabric made Ted pull back, and he turned just enough to see the fact that where Cody had been clutching the couch he had torn the material and some of the stuffing inside was leaking out. Cody retracted his hands so quickly that Ted completely missed the action, a shamed expression crossing his face, “Sorry--- so sorry---“he started but Ted placed a finger over his lips and quietened him. “Cody; it’s just a couch, it’s not like we can’t get a new one.” _We_ , Cody thought with some small delirium, Ted had already fallen back into using ‘we’ to refer to them again. The mention of new furniture though suddenly reminded Cody of something else.   
  
“Leave here and come and live with me, Teddy,” he blurted out rapidly, undoubtedly startling Ted if the bemused expression that briefly crossed his face was anything to go by, but then an almost frightening expression of calm acceptance appeared on his face. “I want to be with you,” sure, he hadn’t been able to leave this house because of all the memories there, but at the same time now the thought of leaving so long as he was with Cody seemed much more acceptable to him; this was the place where they had had Cody’s wake after all, where Ted had essentially imprisoned himself because he couldn’t bear to handle reality anymore.  
  
“Teddy—“this time it appeared that Cody was the one who had been caught off-guard; he had expected much more of a fight from Ted about the matter. Ted looked at Cody levelly, “This was _our home_ , Cody, and you and I know that, but when you… went away,” Ted’s lips trembled at the carefully chosen phrase and Cody bit his own lip (his fangs having since retracted), “—it wasn’t really _ours_ anymore. It was just… something that was. There’s nothing here that I want to keep anymore.” Aside from their photo albums everything else was just an every-day materialistic possession that he could replace with no problem whatsoever. Home was _only_ where Cody was.   
  
“But…” Cody started, knowing that although he wanted _nothing more_ than for Ted to live with him, he knew he had a duty to his fiancé to point out the obvious pointers that Ted seemed determined to ignore in favour of what he thought he wanted. “What about your family, Teddy?” Cody obviously didn’t have to worry because it was evident that Ted hadn’t told anyone about Cody’s ‘miraculous’ return, but if Ted went missing then every one of his family and friends would be searching for him. And, well, if Ted moving into the manor would be a big lifestyle change for him. “I’ll just go,” Ted said, “I’ll leave them a letter, tell them I’m fine but that I just… had to go.”   
  
To Ted that seemed perfectly logical, and given how he had been since Cody had passed he doubted his family would be overly surprised. Alright, he was lying to himself somewhat about that last bit but he supposed the letter, and answering his mobile if they called for him, would have to be enough for them. He would just tell them that he wanted to go somewhere completely new, and meet completely new people… he would miss them, and he knew it, but in the grand-scheme of things he knew that attempting to be without Cody again would be much worse. “I want to live with you,” he gripped Cody’s hand, “I _can’t, won’t,_ be without you in my life again, Cody,” he repeated.   
  
Leaning forward slowly, carefully, Cody rested their foreheads together and sighed gently, “It’s not like I don’t want you to come and live with me you know,” Cody murmured, “But I was expecting that you would need a little more time to think about it.” The blonde shook his head somewhat and shrugged, “All I need is my clothes and our photos,” and a couple of other nick-knacks that he would shove into his suitcase as he was packing it. Once it was closed and secured he then paused and asked Cody, “Do you want any of your clothes?” it may have been a stupid thing to ask since it was very clear he’d obviously gained a new wardrobe somehow.   
  
“I do,” Cody mused a little nostalgically “I’ve missed some of these…” he picked out a few of the things he wanted, placing them into the matching case to Ted’s that had been his, he then closed it. He was watching Ted though, wondering whether he would suddenly ‘wake up’ on their way to the manor and Ted’d decide that he wanted to go back again. If that happened Cody would be devastated, but he knew that Ted’s emotional and mental well-being were the most important things here and he was prepared to do whatever he had to do to accommodate for them. However, Ted appeared completely at ease, even as he wrote his farewell letter.   
  
Straightening up once the letter was sealed Ted then turned around and extended a hand to Cody. He then smiled; a real, genuine smile, “Are we going, Cody?” moving forward a little uncertainly –he was half beginning to think that this was a dream, and he was soon going to startle out of his resting-state and find himself at the manor without Ted there- and grasped Ted’s hand as securely as he dared allow himself to. “Yeah,” his returning smile was shaky at first, but then grew larger as he acknowledged that Ted genuinely wanted to come with him. A few minutes later the house had been locked and their cases were in the car, the pair of them driving into the darkness.   
  
There wasn’t much talking going on between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable even so. In truth Cody didn’t want to pressure the other too much because… well, because he was going to need all of the rest and preparation he could get to be ready for meeting his ‘brothers’. They were a bit… questionable upon first meeting them and he sincerely hoped that they would know enough to back off a little bit. As he pulled into the manor’s driveway though, cutting through the monotony of long, isolated roads lined with thick-trunked, tall trees, Ted gasped and Cody realised then that he hadn’t quite mentioned to Ted _where_ he lived now.   
  
_If only this was the hardest thing Ted would have to go through that night._   
  
~::~   
  
“Now, remember,” Randy was saying, in all seriousness to the assembled men in the manor’s main living-room, “—Ted will probably be feeling overwhelmed if he’s even come with Cody, so try not to be so… yourselves around him until he’s had chance to calm down and adjust.” The timbre of his voice let everyone in the room know (barring John and Evan) that that was an order. Chris leant into Evan’s ear and whispered into it, undoubtedly exerting some of his own will over his mate and child. Evan pouted at the inaudible words but nodded his head as he leant back into Chris’ chest a little from how he was sat on his lap in a comfortable armchair.   
  
Christian and his mate Adam (known more commonly as Edge from his ‘rebellious days’) were sitting on one of the couches, Christian seemingly watching the program that was playing on the large, flat-screen television across the room, that had been put on for the sake of creating a ‘normal’ atmosphere for their potential guest than anything, as Adam played on a small hand-held games console. Hunter (Paul, but again, he was generally known by a nickname that spanned from his human days as a paid fighter) and Shawn were sitting opposite them on another couch, waiting and watching without bothering to make any sort of pretence to doing something else.  
  
John was casually leaning against the door-frame of the door that led from the living-room to the smaller annexed room, not intruding on the moment both because it wasn’t exactly his place and also because Randy was pacing around near him and he didn’t like to be sitting if Randy wasn’t with him when he was around his ‘grandchildren’ and, in Evan’s case, ‘great grandchild’. He wasn’t part of the clan officially even if one would claim that because of his position as the ‘patriarch’ of the line almost, and everyone knew it. The occupants of the room suddenly stilled as one as a car engine sounded some metres away, obviously heading through onto the estate’s grounds.   
  
“Behave,” Randy warned a final time, pointedly ignoring the few eye-rolls that were sent his way as he did so. Looking to John (more out of a reflex than anything) Randy then moved and seated himself down on one of the few remaining couches, and John paused only a few scant moments before heading to join his child on the couch. A look was exchanged between the three pairs of inner-clan mates, but no one said anything; they knew it wasn’t their place to question the relationship between their sire and grand-sire, but that didn’t mean that the urge wasn’t there. There was an air of expectant anticipation in the air as they waited.   
  
Though the arrival of the car and the exit of its occupants took a minute or two at best, to the vampires inside it was almost as though hours had passed. When the front door opened though everyone endeavoured to act as normal as possible… well, everyone except Evan that was. As Cody and Ted made their way over the threshold the youngest vampire was at his kin’s side and enveloped him in a tight embrace, legs actually leaving the floor and wrapping around Cody too. “Finally, you’re back!” he announced, “Everyone’s been so boring!” he whined and Cody found himself smiling; he and Evan really did get on well, even if his perpetual cheeriness did get a bit annoying.   
  
Ted meanwhile seemed frozen in place; where the hell had this guy suddenly appeared from? Turning towards his lover as he sent him a reassuring look, Cody then leant and closed the door behind Ted and then poked Evan in the side, “Hey, don’t be rude. Say hello to Ted.” Evan’s head immediately popped up from Cody’s shoulder to look to Ted. Seconds later he was removing himself from Cody and coming to a halt before Ted, extending a hand to him and flashing him a bright smile that almost had Ted recoiling from the sheer impact of it. “Hi!” he jabbered, shaking Ted’s hand rapidly, but again Ted noticed he used the same cautious movements as Cody did.   
  
“I’m Evan, I’m the fun one. If you have any questions or need anything come straight to me!” releasing Ted’s hand Evan then suddenly moved back into Cody (and Ted felt something stir in him territorially because the two men were close even though he knew that there wasn’t anything between them. At least, he sincerely hoped not) and whispered into his ear. The words were so quiet though that Ted didn’t even catch one of them. He then murmured, “Good luck!” before turning and bounding back into the living-room. Shaking his head with fond exasperation Cody then reached and took Ted’s case from him and set it off to the side with his for the moment.   
  
“Why… good luck?” his mind was still spinning somewhat from the rapid appearance and disappearance of Evan. Cody sighed and said, “He’s over-dramatizing,” at least he _hoped_ that was the case. “Ready to come and say hi to the others?” he asked, and though Ted felt that he really _wasn’t_ ready he knew that he had little choice; he had always been raised with manners and even through his bemusement the need to follow etiquette remained strong. Placing an arm around Ted’s middle in the sweet gesture he always used (Ted clueless to the other reason why Cody held him like that) before he began leading Ted through the door Evan had gone through.   
  
Immediately, something in Ted felt uneasy about the fact that Cody had been in a house, alone with regards to him, for two years with all of these men. If they weren’t quite so clearly paired off with one another then he might have felt even more threatened. Aside from the TV playing quietly in the background the room was silent and Ted was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the number of eyes focused on him; something Cody seemed to notice because he immediately began to speak, making a point to be jovial… Ted however noticed the tone of warning underneath the cheerful façade though, “Everyone, this is Ted!” he looked around at them all meaningfully.   
  
“Ted,” he then indicated to the two men with quite longish hair, one of whom was assessing him as the other offered a bright smile that almost topped the little cannonball that had accosted them on their way in. “That’s Paul and Shawn,” he then indicated the short haired blonde who gave a polite smile as his long-haired companion glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the game in his hand, “That’s Christian, and Adam—“he then indicated Evan and the blonde man whose lap he was back on, “And obviously you’ve met Evan… and that’s Chris.” Swallowing slightly he then turned to where his sire was coolly waiting for his own introduction.   
  
“Randy,” he addressed the man and he nodded, “This is Ted. Ted that’s Randy… my sire.” The look on Ted’s face said that he didn’t entirely understand what that term meant… but Randy surmised that it wouldn’t take him long to suss it out. “And that’s John,” he added on with a reflexive respective nod, “He’s my grand-sire, and Randy’s sire.” It seemed then that Ted made the connection of what that term meant and his eyes widened a fraction. Slowly, with what could be almost considered as a serpentine grace, Randy was on his feet and approaching them with a deliberately ‘human’ speed. “Welcome to the estate,” Randy greeted.   
  
“It…” Ted swallowed, and everyone in the room could hear his heart pounding quite swiftly even if he was doing a remarkable job of acting as unaffected as he possibly could, “Thanks for having me.” Actually, although Ted wouldn’t know it, the fact that he had managed to last past the introductions was going to do great for the estimations those of the clan had for him. Cody tensed, completely involuntarily at the prospect of having another vampire near Ted, but he held himself back as his sire looked Ted over. After a few moments Randy then lightly requested, “Please stand completely still. Don’t worry, no one’s going to hurt you,” he added.   
  
Ted sent Cody a small look and Cody nodded; Randy had told him, way back when he was training himself, that for Ted’s own safety if he ever ended up coming to the manor, he would need to be scented by all within. They wouldn’t mean to go for him, but since he wasn’t mated with Cody or had had intercourse with Cody for so long (that would leave the vampire’s scent on him of course) there was every chance that someone might mistake him for a sheep or intruder if they let themselves get carried away--- or if they’d let their feeding fall-back which did occasionally happen--- something Cody himself had proved the previous night hadn’t he? “It’s Ok Teddy,” Cody murmured.  
  
Reassured by Cody’s words and presence Ted then held still, almost startling when Randy suddenly pressed his face into the crook of his neck, holding there for a few seconds. Over Randy’s shoulder he didn’t miss the tensing of the very broad-shouldered man he had been seated beside, but as soon as the action happened it was gone. Said man then stood and walked over, doing exactly the same as Randy when the tattooed man backed off. One by one the vampires in the room (and Ted was so acutely aware that each one of the men in the room, even the smiling friendly Evan, could quite well kill him) all repeated the action of… smelling him.   
  
“It’s a precautionary measure,” Randy explained lightly afterwards, as though what they had done was completely normal--- and Ted supposed that to them it may well be. “That way we’ll now all know who you are and things won’t become… complicated,” he said casually. Ted nodded jerkily, and even though he trusted that they were acting in his best interests that didn’t stop him taking a step back towards Cody. His heart was still going double-time and Cody looked as though he was expecting Ted to have some sort of attack any moment; he clearly wanted to calm him down but knew the way he’d do that wouldn’t be exactly appropriate in front of the others.   
  
Sensing that his child wanted to excuse them both Randy nodded his head and said, “Go on up to your room--- but don’t forget to get him something to eat or anything if he needs it,” he reminded firmly; they didn’t eat and so it was easy to forget to cater to that particular whim of those that visited if they didn’t have the inclination to fetch the food for themselves. Nodding, Cody excused them both and led Ted back out into the main foyer and picked up their cases before indicating the rather grandiose stair-case, “Come on Teddy; we’ll go get you settled,” he was smiling, and seemed perfectly at ease. He thought the introductions had gone well.   
  
As soon as they were out of earshot –or when Cody was out of earshot at least- Evan then burst into giggles, causing everyone to look at him and send him incredulous looks. “Are you sure he’s not found something that gets him high other than sugar?” Shawn asked with a smirk as Chris flipped him off; they had gone through a phase of claiming that Chris must have been smoking ‘the ganja’ and suchlike and that whatever he had come into contact with was being transferred more potently to his unsuspecting mate when he fed off of him. Ignoring the comment and his mate’s response Evan cooed, “Aww, that Ted’s so cute!”   
  
Chris’ brow rose and Evan rolled his eyes lightly before nuzzling him affectionately, “Not cute as in attractive--- though he certainly is, cute as in so…” he floundered for a word and Christian helpfully supplied, “Human?” Evan looked wanly amused and nodded his head; that perfectly described how Ted was compared to the rest of them. A few murmurs of ascent came from other members of the assembled group; as a first impression the blonde hadn’t done badly at all, but the still underlying scent of suffocating misery that clung to him like a bad smell made them all a little uncertain as to how they should handle him.   
  
Randy looked contemplative and for a moment no one spoke; if you ruined the man’s train-of-thought then he could get really pissed off. In the end though Hunter was the one to voice the question that had crossed all of their minds at least once since they had been forewarned that Cody would potentially be bringing his human fiancé to live with them, “Is Cody planning to turn him? Or even feed off of him?” he didn’t see how their younger clan brother was going to be able to resist the urge having Ted so close to him as much as he would be now he had moved in. Feeding from a mate was one thing, but when that chosen partner was still a fragile human...   
  
“Ted and Cody are the only ones who can make that decision,” Randy said lightly, and they all heard the underlying message of _and none of you better do anything to change that got it_ and they all heeded it; they had managed to get along alright with Evan around back before Chris had turned him, so they were pretty confident they could manage this. After giving the other pair a little while to make sure that they were safely in Cody’s room and out of the way the other couples began to disperse until John and Randy were the only ones left. Glancing at his watch John then started to stand up, “I guess I should be getting out of here…” dawn was approaching.   
  
Randy’s head whipped around to face the other man, his mouth opening and closing silently; he had gotten so used to having John around recently that he deciding that it was about time he headed off was startling. Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck slightly Randy then cleared his throat softly and mumbled, “You know you don’t have to…” only before John did he really get sheepish, usually not giving a damn about anyone’s opinions as he said what he thought and what he felt without restraint for he had never believed in pussyfooting around. John looked a little surprised before gaining a somewhat embarrassed expression of his own, “I figured you’d be getting irritated with me around so much,” he tried to make it sound light, somewhat jokey.   
  
~:~  
  
Randy gave a one-shouldered shrug in an attempt to look casual. “I guess I got used to you,” he said and immediately realised it wasn’t going to be good enough – they had communication issues at times thanks to his long years of being either solo or the one in charge and more used to subtle power shifts being in his favour, while John didn’t seem to have been around anyone very long in his time as undead, or so Randy had to assume. Not for the first time he wondered how John had stood it as long as he had. He had turned his first childe after a long time considering and eventually it had been more his almost-human need for like company that had driven his decision. John had been on his own at least as long as Randy had been a vampire, and longer.   
  
“Where are you staying John?” he asked rather abruptly.   
  
John raised his eyebrows; it wasn’t the first time that Randy had asked but it was the first time that there seemed to be something behind it other than knowing – and John couldn’t really have said why he hadn’t wanted any of the clan knowing where his bolt hole was, he had his reasons and it was second nature to him to ensure no one knew where he was (and certainly not another vampire) but he knew that Randy could be trusted and that meant his clan could be as well. “I’ve got a temporary lease on an apartment,” he said rather guardedly, he simply couldn’t help himself. But despite the reluctance to spit out the address, he would have been quite prepared to take Randy there if he had insisted, or pointed out the inequality that meant he could find Randy and the whole clan whenever he wanted, and it wasn’t like the clan were constantly moving as he did.   
  
Randy didn’t ask for an address, he seemed to have accepted that John had an almost pathological need to keep himself as hidden as possible. “Stay here instead.”   
  
John blinked a couple of times, not sure that he had understood that quite right. “Huh?”   
  
“Stay here,” Randy repeated, louder this time. “With me. Keep your cheap apartment if that’s what you want, but there’s no reason for you to stay there. There’s everything you need right here.”   
  
“I—“ John wasn’t entirely sure what to say. He wanted to – _he really fucking wanted to_ – but he hadn’t been so close to anyone in hundreds of years, let alone a whole group of people. It would be strange not to be solitary. And he still wasn’t sure what the hell the deal was with Randy and himself. He knew how _he_ felt, but even that was mildly terrifying without adding the uncertainty of not knowing Randy’s mind to the equation. His childe was just so close-mouthed when it came to himself.   
  
Then again, he was pretty sure that Randy hadn’t asked him to stay so that he could have access to the blood in the fridge. He had specifically said _with me_ and that spoke the volumes that Randy hadn’t. Randy obviously wanted him around… which probably meant that he wasn’t going to resume his attempts at murder. When Randy said he wanted John around, he was telling the honest truth. And there was the understanding too, that John might need his place to escape to. He just had to hope Randy understood it wasn’t from _them_.   
  
John grinned, dimples appearing and for a moment looking a whole lot more like the human he had once been and could barely remember than the vampire he was. “I think that sounds like a good idea. If the others don’t mind me being around of course.”   
  
“They’d live with it if I damn well told them they had to,” said Randy in return, clear relief showing in his eyes, a sign of just how much he’d been expecting to be turned down. John felt a little bad for even taking a moment to consider it; it was what he wanted and what _Randy_ wanted and that was all that should matter.   
  
“But they all seem happy enough to have you around,” continued Randy. "Maybe they like you.”   
  
“Maybe,” replied John, resting a hand on Randy’s thigh and smiling at him – he felt a little like he wasn’t going to stop smiling any time soon. It might have been an open-ended invitation rather than a suggestion they lived together as a couple or something like that, but it was more than good enough for him. He could have chanced something else over the years he supposed but he had never _wanted_ to risk himself like that. It wasn’t until he met Randy again that he had realised just how sick of being on his own he really was.


	4. A Few Minor Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted begins to acclimatise to the idea of living in the manor. However, a certain element of the vampiric lifestyle causes jealousy to rear its ugly head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all our readers: I'm very sorry for the delay! Work and the Holiday Season have really crept up on me recently... So here's a few chapters to make the delay up to you, and I promise I'll work harder at posting more regularly haha.
> 
> We hope everyone had a smashing time over the holidays and also in the New Year too~~~

Ted supposed he should have thought this through more. As he followed Cody up the grand staircase he realised there was a lot he didn’t know about Cody’s life now – he hadn’t known how many people he lived with, or the manner in which they did. He didn’t know where the money came from or if any of the members of the clan might take exception to a human living in their midst. And he didn’t know where Cody’s food supply came from, although that was one thought that he kept trying to push out of his mind. He would find out soon enough and in honesty, he was a little squeamish… no, that wasn’t the right word although it probably might have been more appropriate than the one that was. _Jealous,_ there it was. What if he went stealing through windows at night and slurping a couple of cupfuls from some strangers neck? What his research had shown him was that the act of taking blood was considered to be weirdly sexual, by Hollywood at least. Perhaps though, it was just another thing they had gotten wrong.   
  
“This is our room,” said Cody cheerily, pushing open a door and letting himself in, putting Ted’s bags on the bed. Ted barely even noticed what Cody was doing, his attention was taken up by the room itself. The bed dominated the space, the ridiculous amount of pillows that Cody had always insisted on present and a cover that he could probably wrap around himself three times. There was a table at either side, a lamp on each, huge wardrobes along one wall – Cody again, Ted had always teased that he had more clothes than any girl. There was a window but between the massively heavy curtains and (as Ted would later find out) the shutters on the outside, not a crack of light could penetrate the room. But none of those particularly attention-grabbing in the face of the pictures on the walls. Ted took a tentative step toward them to see if they were indeed what he thought they were. No, he hadn’t been mistaken. Someone had taken pictures of _them_ and enlarged them, pictures from their respective facebooks or other online sources. Ted recognised the one that had been a favourite, the day they had announced their engagement and someone had snapped them sitting on the couch with their arms wrapped around each other, looking like the happiest men on earth. One of Ted on a holiday they had taken together that had embarrassed him when Cody insisted he loved it, a third of them both with Cody leaning over his shoulders with his arms wrapped possessively around his lover.   
  
Cody turned to see what had caught Ted’s attention and gave a self-conscious smile. “I had to make it seem like home here.”   
  
“You got these off the computer?” “  
  
Vampires on the internet… “Cody wiggled his fingers as if imitating a ghost, smirked, then let the expression drop. “I told you, I had to really work to make myself safe to be around humans. I needed a constant reminder of why I was doing it.”   
  
Ted looked back at the pictures and then to Cody, giving a smile of his own. He might have thought he hadn’t thought it through before coming here, but that suggested he had a choice. He loved this man and would follow him right into the depths of hell. And this only proved that Cody felt the same about him. It didn’t matter even a little what Cody had become, although he was lying if he said it hadn’t changed his lover, he was still the same Cody beneath it.   
  
“I should have known you’d pick that one by the pool—“   
  
Cody stifled a snicker. “I _like_ that one! I still can’t believe you wouldn’t let me use it for my office screensaver—“   
  
“Hell no! What was wrong with the one that got taken at Christmas? That was a good one.”   
  
“Perv factor,” said Cody easily. “You didn’t have your shirt off in that one.”   
  
“Oh, so you only want me for my body?”   
  
This time Cody did laugh, the argument a familiar refrain whenever they bickered about photographs – Ted wasn’t usually camera-shy but he had his moments and Cody had always found it rather cute. “Who wouldn’t? Hmm, maybe a good thing I never used it for the screen saver, I would have been fighting co-workers off of you with a stick!”  
  
Ted shook his head, chuckling, and headed over to the bed with some thought of putting his clothes away, not that he’d brought all that many because there were other things that he thought more important to bring along since he had no idea when he would be going back to his own place. He ended up standing beside Cody, who tried to shoo him away and do the job himself. “I’ve got this Codes—“   
  
“Uh-uh, no way DiBiase. You’ll crease it all.”  
  
“You’re such a diva,” returned Ted, expecting and getting the playful pout that he always thought only proved his point. And now, just as it always had been, it was too much to resist and he leaned in to capture Cody’s lips with his own. Cody jerked back so slightly that it was almost imperceptible but Ted felt it nevertheless and was about to pull away when Cody’s hand threaded into his hair and his lover was kissing him back.   
  
Kissing Ted had always been a heady experience but with his new senses, Cody found a whole new level of intoxication. He could hear how Ted’s heart sped up at his touch and feel how warm he was even through the clothes they were both wearing. And although it had always been there, the taste he thought of as simply Ted seemed sharper, closer. Ted’s hand went to Cody’s hip, ready to slip around his waist and draw their bodies closer and _that_ was the moment that Cody’s control slipped and his fangs started elongating.   
  
He broke the kiss hurriedly, leaning back and instinctively covering his mouth before Ted could see. Even if he had seen them before, Cody wasn’t sure he wanted to remind his lover just what he was. He would get enough of a reminder at dawn when Cody dropped into the sleep of the dead and lay like a corpse on the bed, cold, unmoving and barely breathing, until the night came around again. “I’m sorry,” he said indistinctly, a definite lisp thanks to the damned fangs that didn’t just make an appearance when he needed to eat.   
  
Ted merely looked back at him in that thoughtful, understanding way he’d always had. Perhaps, thought Cody, he realised that this wasn’t exactly simple for Cody either. It had been a long time and a lot of change and he had spent most of that expecting rejection, or that Ted would have moved on, met and married someone else and leave Cody to an eternity alone. There would be no one else for him but Ted and even now, he couldn’t quite believe that Ted had by some miracle returned to his life – but it was not as seamless as his frequent fantasies had envisioned.   
  
“Is this gonna happen every time?” asked Ted mildly.   
  
“I don’t know,” admitted Cody, hand still over his mouth and feeling horribly embarrassed by the question. He was starting to feel like he had some kind of sexual dysfunction, which in a way he supposed he did, premature elongation or something along those lines. He wondered if Ted would leave when he realised that all their kisses would be cut short by the arrival of his fangs.   
  
Ted considered for a moment, then firmly put his hand over Cody’s and moved it from his mouth. There was no way he could have done so had Cody decided not to co-operate but he had no idea what Ted had in mind and meekly let the human guide his actions. Ted looked at Cody’s mouth again, apparently noting where the tips of the fangs peered from between Cody’s otherwise entirely closed lips. Willing them to go down just didn’t seem to be working, it was like high school all over again without the convenient text book to disguise it. “If they’re gonna show up every time, then I suppose we’d better get used to it,” said Ted and before Cody could work out what he meant by _that,_ Ted was moving in to kiss him again. Cody could have moved, he supposed, but he didn’t feel like he could, he felt rooted to the spot as Ted pressed their lips together, parting his own slightly and much to Cody’s shock, running the tip of his tongue over a fang. The reaction was immediate and electric; Cody moaned and found himself flush against Ted without the careful distance he had been keeping between the two of them, his hand going to Ted’s hair once more and moving restlessly through the strands. Their species had always had some sensitivity in their fangs, something to do with the feeding instincts, but Cody had never truly realised it until that moment. And he had always thought that sensitive teeth were a bad thing… yet the mere touch of Ted’s tongue had sent a shockwave through him that had bypassed all of his control.  
  
It took all of his willpower not to continue that kiss, deepen it, allow things to become passionate and heated between them. Even now Randy doubted that his control was all that it could be, he didn’t think that when his libido was in charge that control would be important until things got too far. Ted was breathing more rapidly than normal he noticed, while Cody himself actually needed to take a breath.   
  
“We’ll have to get used to it,” said Ted by way of explanation, a determined tone in his voice. Cody knew what _that_ meant all right, Ted’s mind was made up. He would be finding out more, learning, observing, because when Ted threw himself into something, he was in it with all of his heart.   
  
“I could really get used to that,” replied Cody, almost to himself. Then he realised what he was saying and tried to cover himself in a hurry; he wanted Ted there _yes_ but he didn’t want to push things too far. They’d always had a healthy sex life ( _voracious_ might have been closer) but he suspected there would be no going back once they got to that stage this time. As it was, if Ted really couldn’t live with this then Cody might be able to make him forget and if not, Randy or John probably could. If they threw lovemaking into the mix though, then Cody thought he might not be able to let Ted go ever again.   
  
The big bed they were to share looked incredibly inviting.  
  
“We can unpack later,” said Cody brightly, putting a little space between the two of them, but not before his body told him what his eyes had already seen; Ted had lost some weight and from the taste of _that kiss_ , his beloved hadn’t partaken of an evening meal. In fact, he had walked in on Ted reading, studying, and he always tended to let little things like food slide when he was engrossed in something. “Did you eat since you woke up?”   
  
“Sure,” replied Ted, looking a little confused.   
  
“When?”   
  
“When I woke up. I had some toast.”   
  
“More than twelve hours ago?” Ted’s guilty look told Cody all he needed to know and he smiled a little, taking Ted’s hand. This was one thing he wasn’t about to let go, he hadn’t been there and Ted hadn’t cared enough about himself but now he was _back_ and he was going to make sure things changed. “I’ll show you to the kitchen and you can have something. In fact, I should show you around a few other places too. Uh, if you’re up and about during the day you’ll probably want to do something a bit more exciting than watching me rest.”  
  
Ted didn’t think so, he thought he hadn’t seen nearly enough of Cody to be tired of the sight yet and if he could simply stare at his fiancé for hours on end, he would be more than happy to do so.   
  
But he didn’t argue, merely let himself be pulled from the room and toward the staircase. “We actually do have food,” Cody said as he went with Ted down the stairs. “There’s a lot of reasons for it, but most of it has a long shelf life so we don’t have to worry too much about not having things in. Right now we’ve even got sugary snacks in, and about a ton of Pepsi, it’s Evan’s, or it was.”  
  
Ted frowned a little, this made no sense to him at all since it wasn’t as if Evan could eat any more than Cody could, but he decided it was a question for another time since Cody was speaking again. “You help yourself whenever you’re hungry. I don’t eat so I tend to forget little things like meals. That means you’re gonna have to remind me sometimes.” He smiled a little, looking at Ted’s body. “You’ve lost too much weight Teddy, I’m expecting you to eat us out of house and home.” He let the subject go before Ted could object, and even then he had only been planning on saying he didn’t think he’d lost _that_ much and had always threatened to do so anyway.  
  
“There’s a library, and there’s wireless – my laptop’s in the bedroom but you can use it anywhere.” Cody laughed suddenly. “I say library, it’s not really, it’s more of a hang-out room. There’s a ton of books there, since me and Evan like to read and with the others, they’re more used to reading as entertainment than TV.” He shook his head. “Well, maybe Chris grew up with TV but not like we did, I think he once said his was _black and white_ when he was a kid.” Cody shook his head at this blatant display of stone-age thinking. “There’s an X-Box in there and Chris’s guitar, but you should only touch that if you’d prefer your spleen on the outside. Just kidding,” he added hastily. For all Ted knew, that was the accepted punishment among the clan. “And you saw the living room, the TV has maybe a billion channels. You’ve plenty to occupy yourself if you don’t sleep but do me a favour? Just until tomorrow night, stay in the manor? Randy never said what the protocol was gonna be for you leaving in the day and obviously we’ve got some pretty fierce security while we’re resting. We’ll need to go through it all with you.”   
  
                                                                                                                              ~:~   
  
As they headed up towards Randy’s bedroom they were accosted by one of their ‘sheep’; a young woman of British descent by the name of Layla El. She had been hired by Randy as one of their cleaners (they could do it themselves but it was generally just easier to have a few humans come in and do it… especially when those humans were already aware of their condition in a sense and were therefore easier to manipulate) and she would be considered conscientious and hard-working… if it weren’t for the fact that they knew her real reason for lingering.   
  
Cody had always been the one she had appeared to favour, and though she had offered herself to him essentially on a silver-platter numerous times he had turned her down. In fact, even when he was offered a sheep Cody had always refused, even back in his newly-changed days. It had been impressive actually, if mildly disconcerting, but now he had seen Cody actually interacting with Ted he understood what had had Cody holding back. Randy had had Layla before, as had John and he was sure Hunter and Adam had, but the others were reticent if she did offer them.   
  
“Hi Randy, John,” she fluttered her lashes at them, dressed in an outfit that was far too dressy and skimpy for a cleaning job but that was standard fare from Layla and they didn’t bother to comment on it anymore. “How are you both?” she glanced over them with an almost hungry expression even as she in turn asked them, “Are you hungry?” the two men fought the urge to laugh (because that would be rude, and even Randy made something of an effort to be polite to women as much as his patience would allow) and politely declined. That had Layla’s lip sticking out into a pout that she couldn’t recover from before they had seen. “Maybe I’ll go and find Cody…” she said.   
  
It was on the tip of John’s tongue to tell her that Cody was otherwise engaged right then, and would be for the foreseeable future, but he held back; he didn’t want to be the one responsible for sicking that human on the pair… And one could only imagine how Ted was going to react to Layla, because even he wouldn’t be able to hold back on asking why she was there given there had been such a reticence of having him there. Randy, however, appeared to have no such gumption and merely said, “Cody’s busy with his fiancé right now, Layla, I suggest you leave them alone.” On that note he grabbed John’s hand and pulled him into his bedroom.   
  
“Was that really such a good idea?” John asked, all but able to _smell_ the disbelief and jealousy from Layla as she lingered outside of the door for several long moments. Randy shrugged, immediately shedding his t-shirt and jeans before sprawling out on his large bed, hands tucked behind his head and looking as comfortable as you please. John was momentarily distracted by Randy’s abdominals for the moment before he then forced himself to focus as Randy spoke, “She was going to find out eventually… I just sped it up a little. Besides, it’ll be good to see how the households’ new addition reacts to a little _supposed_ competition.”   
  
Despite himself John chuckled a little, shaking his head; he should have seen this happening because Randy would undoubtedly want to test both Ted’s metal, and also the depth of the feelings he had for Cody. Though he might think that he was in love with Cody still there was every chance that something might happen that could ruin that now that Cody had changed. “You’re a little shit-stirrer, you know that?” he asked in amusement, moving towards the bed when Randy crooked a finger at him and sent him a ‘come hither’ look. It was impossible to resist _that_ look and he wasn’t about to try overly hard to do so. “It’d get boring if things were just left alone to develop.”   
  
As John leant in for the kiss that he could sense Randy wanted from him, a fission of awareness that he hadn’t felt for _decades_ now caused him to freeze in place, lips still pressed against Randy’s but not participating in the action. Of course Randy noticed his partner’s lack of interest and pulled back, eyes searching John’s face confusedly. “John? What’s wrong?” the sound of the baritone voice broke through his internal panic and John shook himself, sending Randy a smile that didn’t entirely meet his eyes as he tried to push through the moment. “Nothing,” he said, “It’s nothing.” As he engaged Randy in another kiss he mentally hoped it really _wasn’t_ what he thought it was.   
  
                                                                                                                                      ~:~   
  
“Wow…” Ted looked around with wide-eyes as he entered the ridiculously big kitchen that the manor had; it looked like something out of one of those home-improvement adverts. Cody looked sheepish and said, “Is it too much?” considering most of the house’s occupants didn’t need more than the fridge and microwave the reaction was expected. “It’s…” Ted floundered for a compliment and Cody laughed softly before leading him over to the large island/table in the middle of the room. “What do you want to eat?” he asked Ted as he pulled back.   
  
“Um…” for a man who had once had a very hearty appetite and liked his food Ted was suddenly at a loss for an actual, bona-fide meal idea. There was an expression of concern in Cody’s eyes and Ted ducked his head sheepishly. Seeing how awkward Ted was looking Cody said brightly, “I’ll just make you something then yeah?” he hadn’t forgotten even one of Ted’s favourite meals and so he was confident he would be able to make something edible, even if he was somewhat out of practice with the actual making of the food.   
  
“Yeah, thanks Codes,” Ted said, grasping onto the offer since he was just relieved that Cody wasn’t going to keep that guilty, almost pitying look in his eyes. It wasn’t Cody’s fault that Ted had just sort of stopped eating (and yes, he was blatantly ignoring the technicality that said it was his passing that had spurred Ted into losing his appetite in the first place) and he didn’t want the other blaming himself for it. Checking through the fridge and freezer Cody found the ingredients to make Ted a meal of steak and salad. Ted had always been a big steak fan and the greens would of course be good for him. Setting a pan on to fry the steak Cody then washed his hands.   
  
As Cody moved around the kitchen Ted watched him, a sense of pure déjà vu and contentment filling him; they had spent many an evening like this, Cody insisting that Ted take it easy for the evening as he made dinner, though more often than not Ted had ended up having some input--- even if that input was just setting the table and fetching their drinks. The scent of the steak cooking actually made Ted’s stomach rumble and the blonde blushed as Cody laughed brightly; even if his mind thought he wasn’t too hungry it seemed as though his body was finally putting its foot down on him. “It’s nearly ready Teddy,” Cody assured him.   
  
Soon the fresh salad was on a plate awaiting its steak counter-part, and as soon as the meat was ready Cody served it up to Ted at the table. “What would you like to drink, Teddy?” he asked, waving off Ted’s insistence that Cody didn’t need to be running around after him. “I want to,” he said honestly and Ted exhaled before nodding his head slightly and asking for some of the Pepsi that Cody had aforementioned if he was still OK to have some. Cody set the glass of cold pop besides Ted’s plate and then perched onto a stool next to him. “Thanks for the food, Cody,” Ted said, hesitating a moment before beginning to cut into the steak before him.   
  
It was like heaven in his mouth and before he had even realised it Ted found himself actually _finishing_ the meal before him, not leaving so much as a scrap of lettuce on the plate. Wide-eyed he covered his mouth with his hand, suddenly realising how much of a pig he probably looked to have eaten so fast. “I’m so sorry—“he started, but Cody leant across to him and pressed a finger over his lips, shaking his head, “Don’t you _ever_ apologise for eating, Teddy,” he said firmly, then beaming at him, pure excitement sparkling in his eyes, “I’m just glad that it tasted OK…” he didn’t need to voice that it had been quite a while since he had a reason to have cooked after all.   
  
“It was delicious,” Ted said, waving Cody off determinedly this time when the younger insisted on washing up for him. The sink was rather impressive (and he _never_ thought he’d _ever_ say that about a _sink_ ) and Ted was soon washing his dish, utensils and glass before setting them to dry alongside the other things that Cody had previously washed and placed on the draining-board to dry. As he was drying his hands though, a small, dark haired and skimpily dressed woman suddenly came teetering into the room on ridiculously big heels and _threw herself into Cody’s arms._ The blonde stared, mouth falling open a little as Cody tried to gently but firmly pry the woman off.   
  
“Layla, let go!” Cody would have been blushing violently had he been able what with the fact that Ted was watching Layla all but rubbing herself all over him. “Where have you been?” Layla demanded with a gloss-lipped pout, completely ignoring the request from Cody, “I’ve missed you, you haven’t been around recently.” Cody finally managed to get her off (needing to use a little more force than he would have liked but not enough to hurt her) and moved across to Ted in less than a second. Immediately his arms went around Ted’s waist, drawing the man protectively and possessively close before saying, “Ted, this is Layla.”   
  
Ted was _so very tempted_ to tell Cody that he didn’t give a flying fuck _who_ she was but she’d best get herself a good distance away from Cody _yesterday_ , but he held back. His smile was little more of a grimace at first, but when Cody added on, “Layla, this is _my fiancé_ Ted,” his smile became much more genuine and he leant back into Cody. Layla’s eyes widened momentarily before her expression then became coolly assessing. “And where has he been for the past two years?” she asked snippily. Before Ted could answer (and his gentlemanly side was struggling very hard to remember to be nice to such a.. a _strumpet!_ ) a sudden hiss sounded beside him.   
  
Once again Cody’s fangs had made an appearance and his lip was curled back to bare them. “Have some respect, Layla!” he seethed and the ravenette backed up a step, though Ted was shocked to see though there was a –probably instinctive- fear in her eyes there was also something else that Ted was _not_ happy to see at all: _arousal._ How could she be turned on by Cody being angry at her? When the woman’s hand moved (apparently without her conscious decision to move it) to touch her neck, a bolt of jealous horror shot through Ted; had Cody _fed_ from her? Even as these thoughts were flying through his mind Cody was dismissing Layla quite firmly.   
  
Sighing heavily Cody then turned towards Ted, “I’m so sorry, Teddy. She’s harmless really, she just doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut sometimes…” when the vampire noticed that his human lover was being unusually silent he felt a slither of panic. “Teddy—“he started, but when Ted turned in his arms he snapped his mouth shut swiftly—causing himself to cut his own bottom lip a little in response. Immediately the small cut began to scab over, accelerated healing making itself known. Then were an odd expression on Ted’s face that made him look almost sick even though his cheeks had gained something like his old pallor thanks to having a proper meal.   
  
“Cody…” Ted’s hands came up, gripping the sides of Cody’s shirt a little. Cody’s own hands alighted Ted’s back, gently rubbing as he held still, waiting for Ted to react to him. “Cody, have you ever…” the blonde’s teeth clacked together when he shut his mouth so suddenly, apparently struggling to get the words out. Just as Cody was about to prompt him the blonde suddenly seemed to have steeled himself fully and blurted out, “Have you ever fed from her?” for several long seconds silence fell between them both and Cody momentarily wondered whether his advanced hearing had failed him. Before too long he managed to recover himself.   
  
“No, no!” he sputtered hastily, moving a hand to Ted’s chin to get the blonde to look him in the eyes, “Teddy, really, I have _never_ ever fed from Layla! I haven’t taken blood from a live source since I was turned!” even though he had the feeling Ted tried very hard to hide the expression from him Cody saw the relief that appeared in his eyes. “R-Really?” Ted asked, aware that he probably sounded pathetically jealous and insecure, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t shake that concern regarding the apparently Hollywood element of sexuality in the feeding process and… the idea of Cody being with someone other than him absolutely broke his heart.  
  
 _“Really,”_ Cody attempted to stress, “I don’t… When I need to feed I don’t use a sheep—“he paused when he realised what he had just said in front of Ted but carried on, hoping that if he went on fast enough then Ted wouldn’t pick up on the wording and ask him to explain, “I use…” he let his eyes move to the fridge that he _hadn’t_ gone into before when he had been seeking out something for Ted to eat. Ted’s eyes followed Cody’s and his stomach swirled a little even as a morbid fascination filled him. “Show me,” he commanded quietly, causing Cody’s eyes to widen in surprise. He looked from Ted, to the fridge, and then back again rapidly.   
  
“You—Teddy—“the other couldn’t be serious, he just couldn’t. He _really wouldn’t_ want to see Cody eating even though he undoubtedly knew what Cody did eat; they had been to a couple of vampire flicks in the cinema over time and stuff. Hollywood may have embellished a lot but some of it was actual fact. “You don’t want to see that,” he said weakly, a tick appearing in his cheek due to unease. The returning gaze from Ted was frighteningly level even though there was still something else that Cody couldn’t entirely identify at that point in time. “I do,” he repeated quietly, “You can’t hide all of the changes you’ve had to make from me, Cody.”   
  
After all, one way or another he was going to have to see them. He lived with Cody again after all he wasn’t going to be able to keep him sheltered for too long. Even though he knew the logic of this thought Cody still hesitated, that was until Ted asked him, “Have you fed tonight?” the guilty expression that crossed Cody’s face told his lover all he needed to know. “Cody—“he admonished, thinking that it was rich that Cody would tell _him_ off about not eating when he seemed to be skipping out on it himself. “Get something to eat,” Ted said firmly and Cody knew that he’d have to; if the others heard he’d skipped feeding before seeing Ted again they’d tell Randy.   
  
“It’s gross,” Cody mumbled meekly as he reached into the fridge and pulled out what looked like a hospital pack of AB positive. Ted’s eyes were riveted to the sight of Cody placing the blood into an ordinary looking mug and then into the microwave. “You don’t have it cold?” he found himself asking in something of a faraway voice. Cody tossed the blood pack into the bin and shook his head, unable to meet Ted’s eyes, “It’s… better for us to get things out of if it’s warm.” Ted supposed that made sense; there had to be something in vampires attacking live victims in all of the stories and everything. “I see,” Ted said, then watching the cup rotating in the microwave.   
  
“You really _don’t_ need to watch this,” the ravenette said as he took the mug out of the microwave, remaining standing beside it. “Cody,” the blonde arched a brow slightly, nostrils flaring a little at the thick coppery scent that hit the air a few moments later, shaking it off as he continued, “Come and sit down; you know it’s not good for you to eat standing up.” Cody all but crept over to the stool he had vacated before and then sat down on it, but he seemed to be taking great pains to keep his mug as out-of-Ted’s range as possible. Eventually it seemed needs won-over propriety and Cody took a deep drink from the mug, throat undulating gently as he did.   
  
“What does it taste like?” he found himself asking, though he knew there was every chance that he wouldn’t want to know. Coughing into the mug a little Cody then set it aside, hastily wiping his mouth on his hand in case there was some lingering blood on his lips. “Um…” the vampire glanced at the mug and then at Ted, “It tastes differently depending on who you feed from,” he said, recalling what Randy had told him, “Each human’s is different, even the pre-packaged stuff like what I eat. However, the taste of that isn’t as… potent as it would be straight from… straight from the source,” he said almost apologetically. “The best blood though… that comes from a mate.”   
  
“A mate?” Ted responded and Cody nodded, rubbing the back of his neck a little uneasily before he said, “You saw everyone out there together right? Well, they’re all mated. Except Randy and John—“though he and Evan had privately discussed the topic at length and they were sure both men wanted to take that step but neither of them wanted to be the one to broach the topic, “And that means that they mainly feed off of one another. The sheep around the house are used more for their cleaning and other jobs as opposed to food like they used to be.” Ted thought back to Layla and felt his temper flare a little. He asked the first thing he’d thought though:   
  
“Does the mate have to be a vampire too?”   
  
Cody looked almost embarrassed, “They don’t have to start that way, but they usually end up that way. I mean, Evan’s a good example of that—“at Ted’s look Cody sighed and then said, “Hang on; that’s quite a story and it seems like you want a lot of explanations, not that you’re not entitled to them, and I’d rather we were in a private setting for them.” Ted nodded immediately and waited for Cody to finish his ‘drink’ and then wash his mug before taking the man’s hand and heading upstairs with him. Once inside of what was now their bedroom Cody patted the space beside him, gathering his thoughts until Ted joined him.


	5. Harder Than They Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being together proves old feelings really do die hard, and Evan had a proposition for Ted and Cody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some allusions to violence in this chapter; nothing overly graphic, but here is the warning anyway just in case.

Ted sat up, leaning against the headboard and Cody reached over and took his hand , still being careful of the other man, perhaps taking a little too much care but he really wasn’t sure at what point he would go from firm to painful. Thinking about it a moment, Cody decided to start at the beginning – it was probably easier to explain the mates issue with an example anyway and Evan would do. “Well, when I first got here everyone downstairs that you met was here already. I was the last one to arrive. Only thing was, I was a vampire already and Evan wasn’t.” He laughed unexpectedly. “You can just _bet_ that I was made to keep my distance from him for a long time. We’re not uh, real good with self-control at first and it took me a while. Evan had a couple near misses when I scented his blood, but truth be told I wasn’t exactly thrilled about feeding from humans and as long as I was fed he didn’t interest me much as dinner.”   
  
“That’s… reassuring,” replied Ted rather uncertainly. “Was he one of your cleaners? Like that—“ _Hussy, whore, trollop—_ “Woman out there?”   
  
Cody chuckled again. “Not quite. Evan told me, much later on when he was turned and it didn’t make any difference if we were along or not, that he’d been out at a club and someone tried to beat him up when he got outside.” He noticed Ted’s flinch and almost wished he hadn’t said that part; but for the club part it was exactly what had happened to him. “It wouldn’t have been that bad anyway, he was stone cold sober and he was pretty handy when he was alive but he got shoved into a wall by a guy with a broken bottle saying Ev was looking at his girlfriend funny or something like that. Before he could drop the man or talk sense into him, the guy was gone, I mean completely _vanished_. Ev thought he heard something ‘round the side of the club and followed the noise instead of running off. Turns out it was Chris doing a rescue – he’d gone past and grabbed the guy faster than Evan could see, whipped him around the corner and taught him a little something about starting fights for fun.”   
  
Ted seemed outwardly passive, but Cody just knew he was thinking about what had happened the night Cody had been turned, how Evan had managed to get a rescue it didn’t even sound as if he needed while _Cody_ had been found too late to be returned to Ted the way he’d left that morning. Cody squeezed Ted’s hand (carefully) and continued.   
  
“Ev says he fell in love at first sight and he kinda guessed that Chris wasn’t exactly human – moving faster than the eye does that, though he says he thought Chris could teleport or something. To cut a really long story shorter, he hung around until he found Chris again and uh, made damned sure that Chris knew he wasn’t letting him get away. So by the time I got here, Evan was just about living here but Chris hadn’t turned him. He said there was no need and that Ev had a whole lot of living to do before…” He realised he was getting into rather dangerous territory and cut the thought off.   
  
“But we could tell when Chris finally gave in and fed off of Evan for the first time. A change in his smell, and Chris seemed more… vital I suppose. Evan was the one pushing for it, he admitted it and Chris was holding off…” He considered his next words _very_ carefully. “But in the end they went that route. They were very definitely mates and I guess it was just how they wanted things to be. And in the end, Chris didn’t stop being careful, Evan lobbied Chris to change him. With mates, that’s just how it is sometimes, they have this _need_ to be together and there’s rumours about what happens to vampires that lose their mates, or are separated from them for whatever reason.”   
  
Cody was well aware that really he had told Ted more about Chris and Evan than he had about the mates issue and he supposed he had lied by omission – and he rather expected Ted to call him on it. Ted always knew when he did that, but Cody had his reasons and the least of them was not freaking out his fiancé on his first night in the house. Baby steps, he reminded himself, because if Ted became overwhelmed then he might run away… and Cody knew that now he’d managed to get Ted back into his arms there was no way he wanted to let the man go.   
  
Ted surprised him though by not commenting on the missing pieces. “Do I know Chris from somewhere?"  
  
Cody hadn’t been expecting that and bit his lip to hide a smile. “You’ll figure it out, don’t worry about it.”   
  
Ted nodded, still thinking. “So, what’s bonding? You never said anything about that.”   
  
He hadn’t really explained everything that being a mate meant either, but Cody seized upon the minor change of subject. “I don’t know what it involves. No one ever really talks about the _how_ y’know? I couldn’t even get Ev to tell me and he’ll be honest to a fault. He just said he couldn’t explain. From the outside… it’s like they share an aura. You can just _tell_ they’re part of each other, even when you can’t know for sure. With mates, it’s like the lines are blurred but when they’re bonded there’s no lines at all. I don’t know how to put it better than that. From a practical viewpoint, it means they don’t feed from another live source. They just don’t. Adam once said it’s like eating a dead rat, it made him gag when he tried. They _do_ use other sources though. It’s like the mates thing turned up a few notches. And once they’re bonded, it’s an eternity thing.”   
  
Ted considered. “It sounds a bit like marriage.”   
  
“I suppose it is, in some respects. A promise to one another, if not in front of God – or maybe it is, who knows? There’s _something_ more involved there, or so I heard. Something major. It’s not a contract you can get out of though. It’s quite literally forever and you’re bound in blood.” Cody smiled a little. “It’s entirely possible for humans and vampires to be mates, I know that Evan and Chris were even before Evan was turned. But I don’t know if bonding works between species. Evan was turned before they bonded.”   
  
“Did he want to be changed so that they could be bonded?”   
  
“I don’t know.” Cody was silent for a moment. “It’s not that I’m not curious but it’s something that they don’t talk about in detail – it’s private for them, y’know? Maybe it’s different for everyone.”   
  
Ted nodded, then gave Cody an almost timid look. “When you – I mean, was it like they told me? What happened to you? Because they never found anyone responsible and if Chris managed to get some guy threatening Evan then why couldn’t Randy get to you? Unless he… he was the one who did it…?”   
  
“No.” Cody turned quickly, resting a hand on Ted’s cheek and looking him straight in the eyes. This was one question that _needed_ to be cleaned up right away, although he hadn’t seen it coming until it had been asked. “I don’t know what they told you. What _happened_ was that I was attacked. Three men. I didn’t want to give them what I had and I don’t know, I thought that if I fought back they’d go away I suppose. I don’t know _what_ I was thinking. I should have just given it up, that stuff could have been replaced.” He sighed. “Randy arrived when he smelled the blood. He’s not exactly keen on that kind of thing. They’re dead.”   
  
Ted went completely silent, feeling stunned. On many, many occasions over the years he had dreamed of the cops finding the men who had killed his lover. As soon as he heard the news, he planned to walk into a bank with a gun, shout he was robbing the place and then sling the gun to the ground and give himself up. They could put him in the same cell with those _bastards_ and he’d save the state three trials, maybe four, he’d kill those fuckers if it was the death of him. But the whole time the cops had searched, appealed for information, while Ted had done what he could to investigate himself (which involved drinking in the worst pubs he could and hoping to hear something, hopelessly unaware of how one found a group of murderers) – that whole time, they had been dead. The whole time.   
  
“Ted?”   
  
“I’m sorry…” Ted exhaled slowly. “I’ve just – I’ve been _wanting_ to see them dead for so long, finding out they always were is just bizarre. They’re dead and you’re not."  
  
“Poetic justice?”   
  
“Exactly what they deserve. I’m gonna shake Randy’s hand and put a medal on him.”   
  
“What would you have done if there’d been no attack?” Cody was probably asking for trouble with that question but he was honestly curious. He hadn’t known that Ted might doubt the official story, but why not? So much of it had turned out to not be true, like the fact that Cody wouldn’t be around and there was a chance of finding the men that hurt him. “I would have gone to his room the moment the sun rose and staked his ass.”   
  
“It’s not _there_ the stake goes,” said Cody, although the joke was automatic – Ted was deadly serious. It frightened him a little that such a thing could have happened and not for Randy’s sake; Ted wouldn’t have gotten close and their kind rarely paused when threatened, they acted. “Randy doesn’t rest like I do anyway, he’s too old. And even _I’d_ wake up if someone snuck into the room and tried to stake me. Fuck. I’m glad you made sure before you tried that.”   
  
“I didn’t really think it, but it occurred and I had to be sure.” Ted looked down, fidgeting a little. “Randy gave you a second chance and I’m grateful for that. And he seems to have your best interests at heart, but if I find out different Cody—“   
  
“Why would you?”   
  
“Because it doesn’t seem like you’ve had much of a choice in anything the last couple of years.”   
  
“I haven’t.” Cody shrugged. “Randy changed me, that makes him responsible for what I do. If I’d not been able to control myself then that would have been on him. When he knows I can be trusted entirely – well, I don’t really _want_ to go anywhere but I guess I could. He’s never said anything much, but I’ve heard something about how not all of Randy’s children live here.”  
  
“Really?”   
  
“Well, I kinda read between the lines. I’m not a _prisoner_ Ted. More earning my parole.”  
  
Ted didn’t look like he found it funny, but accepted what Cody had to say. “I suppose I’m asking a lot of questions. Sorry.”   
  
“Don’t be. You know me, I’ll forget something important if you don’t. Ask anything you like.” Cody wriggled slightly so that he was more lying down, tucking his hands behind his head. “Um, but one thing. I told you how we rest, I’m told it’s strange to watch. It’s nearly dawn, I can feel it. I might just go mid-sentence. I did last night, in the kitchen."   
  
Ted almost laughed. “You woke up in the kitchen?”   
  
“Nah, either Randy or John hauled me up here. I woke up on the bed, fully dressed and wondering what the hell happened.”   
  
Ted smiled at the thought, settling himself down as well although he didn’t really feel tired – he knew he should do but he was a little overwhelmed and his mind wasn’t settling down. Not that he was going to mention that to Cody, instead he settled down beside him and kept the topics light, not knowing if Cody could dream but not wanting to add to bad ones by asking about sensitive subjects. It took only a couple of moments before they were in the position they had always assumed while talking in bed, arms loosely around one another, legs twined. Ted decided that although he could extract himself from this at any time he wanted, if it meant having Cody back then he knew there was no way he was ever going to want to.   
  
                                                                                                                ~:~   
  
Randy was resting, lying on his back stark-bollock naked, chest moving maybe once or twice a minute when he took in a breath. He didn’t move at times like this, but John just bet that when he had been alive he had been a restless sleeper. Reaching out a hand, John let his fingers ghost over Randy’s chest. Somewhere on his travels Randy had picked up any number of tattoos, skulls and swirls and writing. John wondered how many patient hours they had taken and who had committed their mark to his lovers skin. Whoever it had been, they were probably long dead.  
  
He had never stayed in one place so long before. He had taken out rooms, rented places but he had never felt at home anywhere, not since his change. He had never felt comfortable around anyone, human or vampire. And then Randy had dropped from the sky and tried to kill him and suddenly things were a lot more complicated. It shouldn’t have been, Randy’s animosity should have been one more excuse to get the hell out but so help him, Randy had intrigued him and he simply couldn’t stand that the man thought he had deliberately condemned him to this life. So he had done what he could to make amends and somewhere along the line realised he had never lost the raging attraction to the other man.   
  
The first time they had screwed they had both been angry as hell and it was after the fact that John had questioned _why_ it had ended that way. Dominance be damned, it had nothing to do with that. And then somehow they had fallen into this relationship and he didn’t want to move on anymore. Even the thought of leaving made him tired, despondent and so he had stayed when he knew he shouldn’t be standing this still. He had allowed himself security. He had persuaded himself that he was _safe,_ no newbie vampire who could harm those around _him_ by forgetting who he was… only he _had_ forgotten who he was and it wasn’t him who could be hurt by that.   
  
He knew he shouldn’t have agreed to stay with Randy, he knew it even as he was accepting. But it was what he wanted more than anything else and as soon as Randy had said it, he knew there was no way he could decline. That would be akin to saying that it was _Randy_ he didn’t want and nothing could be further from the truth. He felt connected to Randy in a way he’d never known before and he didn’t think that was because he shied away from company. He knew _just_ what it meant, had probably known it that long-ago night in the bar when he first laid eyes on the man. Randy was his mate. And although Randy was frustratingly stubborn and incredibly reluctant to admit to it, he was sure the man felt the same way. Why else would he ask John to stay? Probably he assumed they had all the time in the world to work themselves up to a point where they could openly admit it. John was too isolated and Randy was too used to subordinates rather than equals, but they would get there in the end.   
  
Except that John had sensed something that night that meant they might not have any more time left together at all.   
  
When he discovered that Randy had a clan, his instincts had warned him of _danger_ , the learned instincts that came of witnessing the same thing and knowing just how bad it could get. He had managed to ignore that voice and found that he had been right to do so; Randy was hardly a tyrant, more of a pushover no matter how badly he wanted to believe he had everyone under the thumb. Randy had admitted that maybe he should have thought a little more about some of the men he had changed but he had never once changed someone who would actively use their new abilities to harm others, or treat the humans as lesser to vampires. John knew that those vampires existed though. He had met them, and those who refused to involve themselves, no matter how much they may disapprove. Those who merely watched and those who truly were violent, careless monsters.   
  
John knew he had to run before he involved the clan with those kinds, before his past caught up with him and came to drag him home.   
  
He also knew he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was tired of always running.   
  
Lying beside his lover, he held out hope – hope that he was just still suffering from a hangover more than a hundred years past and that it was some reaction to his decision to stay that had made him think he felt something he didn’t. After all this time, it was long past and he was safe. He didn’t need to be worried any more. He had imagined it all. It was the litany he repeated as he finally managed to lull himself into his own rest.   
  
                                                                                                                           ~:~   
  
Ted couldn’t stop watching Cody.   
  
Just as he had said, Cody had simply closed his eyes and gone, mid-sentence. Ted had stared for a while, then gently touched Cody’s face, then the side of his neck, taking his pulse. Then he had merely watched for a while, taking in what changes there had been. Cody was colder than usual, paler than he had ever been – he had been something of a sun worshipper and had even been known to top up his tan on the sunbed, but although he wasn’t quite goth-white, he certainly wasn’t as tanned as he had been.   
  
                                                                                                                            ~:~   
  
At some point Ted must have fallen asleep, because when he next opened his eyes Cody was laid on his side looking at him instead. “Oh!” he startled a little despite himself and Cody looked sheepish, “I’m sorry, Teddy…” it had been a while since either of them had had someone in bed with them it seemed—he had done exactly the same thing when the sun had set and he awoke that evening. “No, no, you don’t need to apologise,” Ted smiled softly before leaning towards Cody to brush their lips together.  
  
Instinctively Cody tensed (although Ted was moving towards him at what might seem to be a quick pace in human terms to Cody it looked almost like slow-motion so he was more than prepared for the action happening) before allowing himself to lean back into Ted a little and kiss him back. It was a chaste action though; both men were conscious about morning-breath (or evening breath as the case was) Cody obviously being more uneasy about that then Ted was given what it was that he actually ate now.   
  
“Mind if I use the bathroom?” Ted asked, realising suddenly that nature was calling and he was going to embarrass himself greatly if he didn’t heed its call soon. “Of course,” Cody said, indicating the door across the room, “Bathroom’s right in there.” Each of the rooms in the manor that were used had been fitted with an en-suite if they hadn’t had one originally after the incident involving Adam taking Shawn’s hair-bobbles… Cody didn’t know _exactly_ what had happened then, because it had been before he moved in, but if the whispered comments from Christian were true as to Shawn’s reaction… Cody couldn’t look at a hairbrush the same way.   
  
The bathroom was impressive alright; a mix of modern and old, keeping with the aesthetic of the house whilst providing the necessary amenities like a shower and flushable toilet. The claw-foot tub in the middle of the room brought a slight smile to Ted’s lips; he had a feeling that Cody may have asked for that, because for about a year before his passing he had been insisting that when they moved into a new place when they married (you never knew when you might need more space after all, and they had both wanted to get out of the city at least a bit) he was so going to get one of those ace ‘old-fashioned claw-footed baths’.   
  
Shaking himself somewhat Ted did his business and then washed his hands before doing his teeth (he had placed his toiletry bag in the bathroom alongside Cody’s things the previous night when he had unpacked since Cody had banned him from unpacking his own clothes once again to prevent creases) and then shaving off the small amount of accumulated stubble he had gained overnight. Now that he was once again fresh-shaven he couldn’t imagine how he had managed to allow himself get the scruff that he had gotten recently. Entering the bedroom once more he said, “Sorry, was I hogging it?” he was referring to the bathroom of course.  
  
That same smile appeared on Cody’s face (that one that said he knew something that Cody didn’t) before the ravenette then said, “It’s alright, you don’t need to rush…” it took him mere seconds to brush his teeth adequately these days anyway. On that note he proved his internal point by going to do his teeth _(fangs)_ thoroughly before he joined Ted. The blonde was midway through undressing and Cody felt a hot fission of lust down in his stomach as he looked at the smooth expanse of Ted’s broad-shouldered back. It was smooth and unblemished right then but in his mind’s-eye Cody could see the times he’d left scratches and bite marks upon it.   
  
Feeling a growl of arousal rumbling up from low in his throat Cody was quick to move to the wardrobe, finding himself something to wear for the day as well. Ted looked up at him when he realised he was there, quirking a wan smile, “I’m going to have to get you one of those cat-collars with a bell on,” he joked; he had already lost count of the number of times Cody had made him jump since he didn’t make noise when he walked anymore. “Kinky,” Cody joked before he could stop himself and the two fiancés looked away sheepishly. _Fuck, this was going to be harder than they thought._ After a few awkward moments they swiftly resumed dressing.   
  
Once they were ready (Ted dressed in one of his old Target t-shits, a leather jacket and a pair of well-fitting jeans that had Cody’s eyes fighting harder than even before to keep off of his ass, and Cody dressed in a shirt and dark jeans alongside a hooded jacket over the top) the pair headed downstairs. Unlike the night before when the place had been rather quiet, that night Ted could hear what sounded like laughter and competitive arguing from the living-room. He sent Cody an almost uneasy look and Cody merely rolled his eyes and sent Ted a look that told him he had nothing to worry about as his hand squeezed the blonde’s.   
  
What Ted saw in the living-room almost had him falling back out of the room again: the vampires were all gathered around the TV, bar Randy and John, and they were playing on what looked to be a Wii console. The look on his face must have been too much for Cody (this scene was something that trips were made of he was sure) because his lover burst into laughter, seemingly drawing the attention of the players and their spectators. What Ted was unaware of though, was the fact that the vampires in the house had been aware of him since the second they had awoken that evening; his beating heart was like an internal, continued, metronome for them after all.   
  
“Ah, Cody!” Evan popped off of Chris’ lap –only able to do so because his lover released him- and came to a rapid halt in front of them, “And Ted!” he beamed, revealing his own set of blissfully white teeth and slightly-elongated (but not close to fang-elongated) and Ted suddenly wondered whether becoming a vampire meant that any ‘physical imperfections’ you might have had when you were alive were immediately fixed. Almost immediately though he was sure that that _couldn’t_ be the case for Cody still had the adorable gap between his teeth that Ted had always fought with him about getting fixed back when he had been living.   
  
“Hey Evvy,” Cody greeted and Ted fought the urge to shyly recoil back as he offered his own greeting. Evan seemed to be all but vibrating with excitement as he looked between them and Ted absently wondered whether he was missing something happening to get the other male that excited. A lightning-fast look was exchanged between Evan and his mate, double-checking that he was still allowed to do as he planned, and soon as he had Chris’ all-clear Evan then turned his attention back to Ted. “I was wondering if you and Cody wanted to come to the cinema with me and Chris this evening,” he said with a surprising, and rather cute, formality.   
  
The question completely didn’t register with Ted for a moment, because of all the things he expected that some of the group might want to ask him that was possibly amongst the _last_ thing he would have come up with. Looking to Cody (almost as though he seemed to be expecting that this was a trick question) Ted then looked to Evan and then nodded hesitantly, “I, um, sure, yeah, that would be nice…” it seemed that his reaction had amused the gathered men because Adam then decided to input, “Nothing like being dead to give you chance to catch-up on all those films and TV series that you always wanted to watch but never had time to!”   
  
Sending Adam a warning look Cody was startled as he realised that Ted was laughing along with the group, if a little hesitantly. “You don’t need to pay for anything,” Evan added, seemingly oblivious to Ted’s unease, “It’s my treat and Chris said that he’ll drive us there anyway.” Evan still wasn’t allowed to drive himself anywhere but he had given up fighting Chris about it… at least for the moment anyway. He would probably try and insist that he was able enough to drive himself around without Chris doing it as soon as the man’s guard was down again. Ted smiled; even if he hadn’t been from the family he was from, cinema fare would have hardly been a stretch.   
  
“What are you gonna go see?” Shawn asked, looking up from the hunting magazine that he had open, one eye often returning to that as the other watched Hunter on the Wii; it had taken them months to get the man to swallow enough pride to have a go on the games, but now that they had it was impossible to get him _off_ the damn thing. Evan looked at him with a deadly serious face, “I’ve heard the new Twilight is out—“he ducked the pillow that went shooting towards his head like a soft missile, “Don’t _ever_ mention that name in this house again,” Christian said and murmurs of ascent sounded from the others much to Ted’s amusement.   
  
“Not too fond of those films then?” he asked as he headed into the hallway with Cody to wait for Chris and Evan as they went to fetch themselves jackets and Chris went to get his car keys. “No!” Hunter called from the living-room, keen hearing picking up on Ted’s comment, “It makes us all look like pussies! We’re badass predators!” even as he said this though someone apparently said something that challenged that sentiment and started their previous bickering all over again. “Those films really do make us look like pussies,” he agreed mildly. Ted chuckled and then looked up as Evan and Chris approached, Chris’ arm comfortable around the smaller’s shoulders.  
  
“Don’t we need to tell Randy where we’re going?” Ted asked a slightly dry tone to his voice without meaning it to be, recalling what Cody had said about the reasons why he was sort of not-quite-confined to the house and needed to be monitored. “It’s fine,” Chris said, giving Ted a small nod of reassurance, “We sorted this out with him already.” The clan leader had made a point of telling them all that they should do their best to make Ted feel welcome, for their clan brother’s sake even if not for Ted’s. But, genuinely, Evan wanted to get to know Ted and if Evan wanted something then chances were that Chris would let him. _Maybe. Eventually._   
  
“Oh, alright then,” Ted nodded, shivering slightly when they left the manor and headed outside. It was slightly chilly that evening and suddenly he was glad that he had had the forethought to take his leather jacket along with him. When he spotted the Jaguar waiting at the bottom of the steps he arched a brow, “Nice car,” he complimented and the trio of vampires laughed softly before Cody explained, “If you think this car’s nice we’ll need to take you down to the garage; everyone has their own individual top-class car down there.” Ted had already seen his of course. Evan turned around in the front passenger’s side seat to Cody and Ted in the back.  
  
“Rumour has it that John has _12 vintage cars_ stashed somewhere,” he murmured conspiratorially as Chris started the car and drove them all out of the estate’s grounds and out towards the town centre. Even though Ted didn’t dislike the manor per se he found himself breathing easier when they were away from it. Glancing down when he felt Ted’s hand squeeze his own Cody then met his lover’s eyes and smiled softly back to him, giving his hand a teeny squeeze in return. Across the central console Evan’s own hand settled atop Chris’ knee as the blonde drove. Before too long they were entering the quite-busy parking-lot and seeking out a space.


	6. An Unhappy Date-Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy and John take their complex relationship to the next level, and the spontaneous double-date doesn't go as planned thanks to the presence of a menacing newcomer who knows John very well indeed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some violence in this chapter again, and vampiric activities in the aid of healing

Wakefulness has been with him for about half an hour before Randy had also stirred, yet they were both awake a good time before the others in the house. “Good evening,” John murmured softly to Randy as the naked, tattooed man curled his long limbs around him once again and blinked slowly at him. He knew that the action was essentially unnecessary though because when they awoke they were wide awake without the need for a shower and several cups of coffee as had been the case when he had been human. “Evening,” Randy murmured back, face pressing into John’s neck. A small lick to the scar he possessed sent warm tingles down his spine.   
  
As they both lay there John felt the urge to claim Randy returned greater than before, but still he held back. Though it might seem like the common thought they both shared in he was still rather terrified at the prospect of being rejected. If that happened… well, it was almost like the ending of any other long-term relationship minus the long-term bit on occasion: uncomfortable and difficult, if not impossible to come back from. And John had a sire’s pride to contend with as well; if Randy rejected him then he wasn’t entirely too sure how he might react to it outside of his rational mind. But.. He really wanted to do it, to secure Randy for his own.   
  
Once upon a time he had thought he had already found his mate… but he knew now that that hadn’t been the case at all. He had been little more than a toy for the older vampire to use and abuse, both physically and emotionally. At the time he had been vulnerable, confused and unknowing what to do with himself; he had taken him in and had at first seemed like a saviour to him. That rose-coloured fog had soon blown away but it hadn’t been until many a decade later when he had finally managed to secure his grand-sire’s permission to leave the clan and go out on his own. The sudden thought of his grand-sire had him thinking back to his feeling yesterday.   
  
If anyone would know if _he_ was somewhere near than his grand-sire was the man to go to… John would get in touch with him again soon if he had another other uneasy feelings. He was determined to keep his past from his present as much as he possibly could without endangering the clan. Though that was maybe already something that he couldn’t help since the unwanted visitor would know that he had been there as soon as he found it. If he found it… the estate wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to find even if you had a map or other directions to it. “I can hear you thinking,” Randy muttered suddenly, causing John to snap his head towards him.   
  
“Huh?” John blinked a few times as his head followed Randy’s progression to suddenly lay out on top of him between his legs. A hiss emitted from between John’s lips as Randy suddenly ground their hips together, morning erection meeting morning erection and causing both men to shudder in delight. “You’ve just woken up,” John murmured, though he was glad that Randy wasn’t immediately pressing for him to fess up about what was on his mind. Despite the fact that Randy had difficulty in opening himself up to people he had no problem whatsoever convincing people (that he cared about) by whatever means necessary to get them to do the same.   
  
“Your point being?” Randy returned as he paused in the progression of kisses that he had been laying along John’s jaw and down his neck. “Nothing,” John murmured back as he tilted his head back. Randy was in no rush it seemed, a sure sign that he had awoken recently and his impatience hadn’t had chance to rouse itself properly, and as a response John found himself being the one to get impatient quickly. “Randy,” he growled softly in pleasure as Randy nipped his nipples sharply, one after the other, a brow then arching reflexing as he felt three fingers pressing against his lips. It wasn’t as though he had never bottomed to the younger before.   
  
Taking the fingers into his mouth he whetted them as quickly as he could, finding his mouth then being filled with Randy’s tongue almost the second after the fingers had been removed. Two fingers immediately breached him and John groaned low into Randy’s mouth, his hands clutching the younger man’s shoulders. The fingers pressed and stretched and John knew almost immediately that Randy had no intention of getting his sweet-spot during the prep… that was his favourite method of teasing torture. A third finger followed and along and before John could get too impatient he felt the fingers being removed, causing him to make a reflexive sound of bereavement.   
  
The thick head of Randy’s cock pressing into his opening though immediately caught the man’s notice. As their eyes met John knew, just finally knew _for certain_ that Randy was the one for him. Pressing his face into Randy’s shoulder as the younger man began to press into him John groaned lowly as he was fully seated inside of him. Licking at the little, barely visible scar that denoted where he had fed from Randy before, John found himself saying, “Randy… give yourself to me. Let me have you.” Well, there, now he’d said it. If everything collapsed around him then at least he would know, but he couldn’t keep holding his urges regarding Randy back anymore.  
  
Randy’s hesitation was barely perceptible, but it was enough that it gave time for a hundred thoughts to go through his mind. There were the rational voices that started up the moment that they realised what John had asked him. The voices that told him John hadn’t been exactly straight with him, he knew next to nothing about the man who thought he had killed him, John’s presence would upset the clan or his control over the clan. He had been getting along well so far and John was going to throw his existence into turmoil. He didn’t need a mate. He didn’t.   
  
The rational voices were a barely recognised minority.   
  
The over-riding voices told him that he _wanted_ this, he _needed_ it. John by his side, forever, regardless of what he kept hidden or what it meant for Randy’s lifestyle, his clan. They meant a lot to him but John had effortlessly made himself mean more. Whatever his head had to say about the wisdom of it all, his heart knew what it wanted. And for a vampire there was no planning and no turning back. Their bonding was for eternity and while second thoughts meant that it might not take place, Randy _knew_ it was right. For better or worse, this was his destiny. And John would be _his._   
  
“John…” Randy surged forward, not breaking eye contact. “You have me.”   
  
His breath caught as John’s hand caressed the back of his neck and then he continued, with no idea where the words came from. He felt a little as if someone had merely entered his mind and put the right words there – but that wasn’t right, because he had never felt so strongly that it was simply _him_ and _John_ before. “John Cena, I take you as my mate as long as we walk the earth and I give myself as the same with the promise that there shall be no other for me for the rest of eternity.”   
  
He slid into John as he spoke and had to fight for his words not to trail off as a howl – suddenly everything seemed much _sharper_ , more _real_ than before. He could _feel_ John all but screaming at him to keep on as he was, the uncertainty the man had that Randy would agree to this, the shape of John’s thoughts, his fears – _he could see it all._   
  
“John!”   
  
John grabbed Randy’s shoulders and met his eyes. “Randall Orton, I take you as my mate, as long as we walk the earth and beyond, I give myself as the same with the promise that there shall be no other for me for the rest of eternity. I love you.”   
  
“Feed from me…” Again, Randy felt as though the words had been put in his head from some outside source, that he knew what to say from some instinct many times older than himself – which did not mean that they weren’t a hundred per cent sincere. “That we have no other to sustain our lives.”   
  
Their eyes had been locked on one another but now Randy, hips still moving but slowly and purposefully into his lover, dropped his head to expose his neck. John took it as the gift that had been intended, teeth penetrating the skin easily and taking the blood that flowed from the wound. He had drunk from Randy before but it had _never_ been like this, so sweet and rich; he fancied he could feel it nourishing him, warming him throughout. He gave a growl of satisfaction, suddenly realising that he could not only hear the blissed-out sigh that Randy gave, he could feel every sensation that led to that sigh, the almost sexual draining sensation and the fierce happiness that Randy had in that moment. It should have been strange to feel the act from Randy’s perspective, but it wasn’t. It felt wholly natural.   
  
He took very little of Randy’s blood; they didn’t need to feed daily but that wasn’t all of it – he recognised that a good part of the act was symbolic and much as he could have taken more he wasn’t sure just how long he would be able to hold on for. Even while John fed, Randy was moving inside him and John’s cock was trapped between their bodies, the friction adding to the sensations coursing through him. Probably their ritual should have distracted him but quite the opposite, it only made him more aware of how he was feeling and how close to the edge he was getting.   
  
Randy gave a little sound as John stopped his feeding and instinctively lapped over the wound to seal it over. A moment later he pulled his head back, meeting John’s gaze again and showing the other just how glazed over his eyes were before ducking his head and biting at the mark he had left from his many previous feedings.   
  
John’s entire body stiffened as a jolt of pure lust went through him, moaning loudly as he felt his blood being taken. It might have been his blood leaving but he felt as if it was being replaced by sheer sensation, real desire that he couldn’t hold back anymore. And he realised he could hear Randy’s voice although there was no way at all that the man could be speaking with his teeth latched to John’s neck—  
  
_John, I love you I need this I need you—_   
  
That was all it took. John wrapped his legs around Randy’s waist and let himself surrender to his body’s needs, orgasm overtaking him with roughly the force of a truck. Crying out, he was dimly aware of a minor sense of loss as Randy’s teeth left his neck and the very welcome sensation of Randy’s seed filling him, his mates cries joining his own. John didn’t want it to end, ever, holding Randy close to prolong the moment. It occurred to him only moments later that Randy was trembling lightly in the aftermath of their bonding and that he too had reacted in the same way.   
  
                                                                                                                        ~:~   
  
As they headed towards the cinema Ted had the feeling that every person they passed was _looking_ at them. Wait, scratch that, everyone _was_ looking at them he saw, but not because they were aware that he was travelling in the company of vampires. No one was seeking torches or sharpening pitchforks.   
  
The blonde felt a blush staining his cheeks though as he noticed that people were looking at his companions as though they were some top-class film stars… though that was maybe how they seemed. Ted had noticed that something in Cody’s appearance and aura had changed, so he could only imagine how Chris, Evan (and Cody he accepted wanly) looked to outsiders. “Come on, Teddy,” Cody chided softly when he noticed the other seemed to be lagging, smiling as he gently tugged his hand to bring the other male level with himself once more. “S-Sorry,” Ted flustered slightly and grinned sheepishly at his lover.   
  
“Are you alright?” Cody asked concernedly, watching as Evan and Chris approached the counter, getting their tickets it seemed. “I’m fine,” Ted tried to assure, “I just… I can’t help but feel like… _everyone knows,_ ” he whispered. Cody smiled slightly and shook his head before beginning to lead Cody towards the concession stand. “It’s OK… I got that feeling a lot when I was first allowed outside again.” And that had only been about a year and a half ago, with no fewer than two of his clan-mates with him every time. “It’ll go away,” he promised, hoping that he could actually make Ted feel that way one day. “Did you want a drink or anything?” he asked.   
  
“Um, please,” Ted said, watching (and smiling slightly) as Cody paid not only for popcorn, but a hotdog as well, and also one of those drinks that looked like they were placed in a cleverly fashioned bucket as opposed to a cup. “I thought you didn’t eat?” he whispered as they met up with Evan and Chris before heading into their screen. “We don’t,” Evan smiled, “I’m assuming therefore that that’s all for you.” Ted flustered and sent Cody a small look as his lover skilfully made his way through the seats towards an empty section near the back. “Way to make me look like a porker in front of people, Codes,” he mock-pouted.   
  
“You’re not a porker Teddy,” Cody said firmly, seating himself at the edge, Ted beside him, Evan beside Ted and Chris at the other edge. Ted grumbled (and thought he heard an actual laugh from Chris as the man obviously picked up on his few curses and creative playful threats) and then settled down to watch the film. It turned out that he must have been hungrier than he thought because the hotdog and about a fifth of the huge drink were gone in record time. It was about halfway through the cup though when Ted was seized with the urge to visit the bathroom. “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled to Cody and stood up.   
  
As he reached the entrance bit of the cinema towards the toilets and concession, Ted suddenly banged into someone. It was only a small collision but Ted felt as though he had hit a brick wall--- when he took stock of the size of the man before him it suddenly made sense; he had to be as big as Randy, if not bigger, and appeared to be as broad as John. “I’m so sorry,” he apologised hastily, finding himself wondering momentarily why this man was wearing sunglasses indoors. “It’s no problem,” the man responded, giving a smile that sent an odd feeling of _flee_ shooting through him. Giving a slightly awkward laugh he stepped around the stranger.   
  
As Ted vanished around the corner the stranger smirked and headed outside of the cinema to wait, the lights almost making his teeth glint it seemed--- and momentarily throwing into relief the oddly extended canines he possessed. Following the scent of the human that he had just interacted with he found the car that he must have arrived in. At first he hadn’t been sure that the scents were correct or not, but they all (bar the human) carried the scent of the man that John had had on him when he had first found him... He was so close now, so very close to finding him again. The smirk on the stranger’s face grew broader, “I hope you’re ready for me, pet,” he murmured, glancing at his watch, “Because soon I’m coming for you… and I won’t let you escape me again.”   
  
Inside of the cinema, meanwhile, Ted had returned to Cody and his new housemates, taking his seat once more and starting back in on his drink and finishing as much of the popcorn as he could. By the time the film had finished Ted’s encounter with the stranger had been completely wiped from his mind, despite the fact that it had taken not half an hour for him to calm down enough from the weird sensations the man had invoked in him when they had spoken before. “Well,” Chris started as they excited the cinema, “That wasn’t bad I suppose… they could have thrown in a car chase and a few explosions though. I mean, come on!”   
  
“You say that about every film!” Evan chided, giving his lover a playful push (with enough force to send an ordinary human across the room, but as it was it was only enough to make Chris fall back a step) and Chris seized him around the middle and gave him a squeeze and lifted the laughing man off of the floor in protest and carried him outside--- much to the amusement of a group of woman stood not too far away. “Are they always like that?” Ted asked in amusement as he headed outside with Cody. “Oh yes,” Cody mused, “Though apparently Evan’s the reason Chris has lightened up quite a bit these past few years…” apparently he had been terribly jaded when Randy had happened upon him.   
  
As they approached the car, they immediately noted something was wrong. Before Ted could even react Cody had pushed him behind him, adopting a protective stance and hissing through his fangs. “Who are you?” he demanded, the startled Ted clutching the back of Cody’s jacket as he tried to see over his shoulder. “Wait—“he started, recognising the man from the lobby. For the first time he removed his sunglasses, revealing frighteningly dark, emotionless eyes. “I was right… _you all stink of him_.” His nose wrinkled as though he was referring to a nasty smell, though Ted had no idea what that could be--- they all smelled like different colognes to him.  
  
Cody’s arms shot out to his sides to keep Ted from ducking past him – usually there was no way that Ted could do so but Cody didn’t want to be distracted from the vampire in front of them for even a second. He had never met a vampire from outside their clan before (John didn’t count, he had mentally fitted him into the clan as soon as he began sleeping with Randy) but he had heard that Chris had, sometime in the mid-eighties and all he had said about the meeting was that they had both been a little taken aback, exchanged pleasantries and gone their separate ways. He somehow didn’t think history would repeat itself here. Even as a human he could tell when someone was looking for trouble and as a vampire, his senses were sharpened. The one thing that was comforting was that the words suggested there was no personal beef with any of _them_ – the bad news was that it suggested one of the clan was his real target. Or the vampire was out of his mind crazy and neither option was good, not as huge as the newcomer was and although they were out of the way, any real fight would probably be noticed right away.   
  
As the oldest of all of them both in the age he’d got to before turning and in respect of being a vampire, Chris drew himself up and spoke for all of them. “Who the hell are you?”   
  
The stranger gave him a disdainful look. “I don’t answer to you, son,” he said and Cody felt a wild and thankfully brief urge to laugh. He wouldn’t like to guess when the last time anyone called Chris _that_ was and it might have seemed incongruous to some as the man physically seemed to be around Chris’s age. But Chris had been changed for less than sixty years and there was something about this stranger that spoke of his age, the emptiness in his eyes perhaps. Cody thought that he might even be older than John was and even thinking of how long John had walked the earth for was unfathomable to him, although he knew that one day he might have those same years behind him.  
  
“You’re going to answer _my_ questions,” the stranger said and gave what might have passed for a smile had it not been so emotionless. Cody heard Ted’s heart speed up slightly as the strangers fangs were exposed and much as he wanted to reassure the other, it just wasn’t the time. “Where is your sire?”   
  
Chris didn’t seem to be expecting that one, but rallied well – Cody had seen that he had the gift of being a hell of a talker. “What’s your interest?”   
  
“He’s taken something of mine. _Where is he?_ ”   
  
Chris regarded him levelly and then smirked. “You don’t even know his name. I seriously doubt that he would want anything of yours or that he’d give you anything either.” _Maybe a hiding for the insubordination_ seemed to be the unspoken qualifier, but Cody knew that Chris was trying not to antagonise him too much – they had a human with them after all and Ted was always going to be the most vulnerable target. Even the thought made Cody feel cold inside.   
  
It wasn’t Ted that the stranger went for though; he moved so fast that even as vampires they were taken by surprise. One moment he was beside the car, the next he was in front of Chris, planting a massive hand in the centre of the blonde’s chest and shoving. Chris flew back like a special effect, hitting the ground several metres aware from where he had been standing and before he could land, the stranger had moved over to Evan and lifted him clean off his feet.   
  
_“Teddy, get out of here!”_ The shout left Cody before he realised the futility of it – anyone that could move that fast could catch Ted before he got to the corner. But he needed Ted _safe_ and he couldn’t get him to anywhere himself, not when Evan was in trouble. He sensed that Ted was moving and let himself forget all about moving carefully and slowly enough to pass as human, throwing himself at the stranger although he knew he wasn’t likely to outmatch him for strength. Nor did he; the stranger merely hit him with a handful of Evan and Cody went down.   
  
The distraction seemed to have bought Evan a little time though. The stranger wouldn’t be able to choke Evan without needing at least an hour thanks to how little they breathed but he certainly had the younger overpowered and no amount of struggling was helping, the strangers arm might as well have been iron for all the impression his fists were making on it. As soon as Cody was down the man gave Evan a bone-rattling shake and then hurled him into a wall hard enough to break every bone in the body of a normal man. Cody felt his jaw drop as bricks cracked and Evan dropped to the ground unmoving. Chris, who had sprang right back to his feet and had been running for them abruptly changed direction and raced over to Evan, perhaps with half an eye on the scene to make sure that Cody was okay… but most of his attention and thoughts were for his mate.   
  
Cody reflected that from his spot on the ground the man looked more massive than ever and the almost cheery laugh that escaped him briefly was freakish. But before he had the time to get back to his feet and have another go (not that he as a newly-born vampire would have much luck against this behemoth) the interloper moved again, Cody managing to track his movements until he got to the car.   
  
Where, as it turned out, Ted had ducked for refuge.   
  
Cody was on his feet and headed over there as soon as he realised – he should have worked it out sooner, there was no way that Ted would have taken off and left them and more than that, he hadn’t had the time to get clear – but froze when Ted stood, looking ready to fight himself, and the man reached out to cup Ted’s face. It looked like an almost gentle gesture, but Cody knew that he could twist Ted’s neck all the way around before Cody could get to them, if he were so inclined. He stayed where he was, eyes wide, barely daring to make any kind of movement in case it all went badly for Ted.   
  
Ted looked just as wide-eyed and frozen as the stranger leaned forward and whispered something that Cody didn’t hear. And then he turned his head, winked at Cody and took off, going so fast that Cody wasn’t sure he would have been able to see his progress if he tried –and he wasn’t trying. More important was Ted, who was blinking and didn’t seem able to comprehend that he had been left alone.   
  
Cody was at his side in a second, checking him over. “Oh Teddy, did he hurt you? Are you okay?”   
  
“I’m okay,” said Ted, slightly faintly. “I didn’t know you could all move that fast.” Putting a finger beneath Ted’s chin to raise it slightly, Cody decided that whoever that had been hadn’t even left a bruise behind – which was just as well, because that Cody was an inexperienced newbie wouldn’t matter, he would have _ended_ that other vampire. “I’ll explain—“He cut himself off suddenly. “Evan!”   
  
He rushed over to where he could see Chris kneeling over Evan’s prone body, Chris barely bothering to look up at him since he would be able to smell that it was Cody and not the other returning. “How is he?”   
  
“He’ll heal.” Chris stroked a finger down Evan’s cheek. “But he’s hurt. We need to get back to the manor in a hurry. Get Ted to drive, I’ll need you to look out in case we’re being followed, you’re more observant.”   
  
“On it.” Cody caught the keys that Chris threw at him and then ran back to the car. “Teddy, I need you to drive us. Can you do that?”   
  
“Sure,” replied Ted, keeping calm in a way that Cody found admirable, although he could tell that calm could be quite easily cracked and would probably be long gone as soon as the crisis had passed. He felt the uncharacteristic urge to hurt something. What if Ted thought this kind of thing was normal of his new life and wanted no part of it? He’d be devastated and he couldn’t even say he wouldn’t understand.   
  
Ted took the keys and opened the car, Cody opening the back doors as he saw Chris lift Evan easily and carry him over to the car. “Baby,” he said quietly, meaning his words for Ted’s ears only. “What did he say to you?”   
  
Ted’s face was grim. “He said, _pass on a message for me – I’m coming for what’s mine. Good boy fido._ That’s it.” Cody bristled slightly at the implication that Ted was some kind of pet, one he knew wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by his fiancé, but there was no time for anything else as Chris approached and carefully got Evan into the back, climbing in himself. Ted started the car, one that he would have loved to have driven a few years before but was too concerned to notice now he was.   
  
In the backseat Evan stirred and opened his eyes. “What—“   
  
“Hush.” Chris’s voice was stern but loving as he put his wrist into his mouth and bit at the skin there.   
  
Ted happened to look into the rear view mirror as he heard the voices and almost swerved off the road. From his vantage point he could see Chris had bitten a wound into his wrist and was holding it to Evan’s mouth – and more shockingly, _Evan was drinking it…_   
  
“Teddy? The road?”   
  
Cody’s voice brought Ted back to what he was doing and he realised that he had let the car drift. He righted it quickly, flashing Cody an apologetic smile, but he was mentally filing all of this away. He had a _lot_ of questions. His eyes flicked to the rear view mirror once or twice as he made his way back, noticing the way that Evan, who had seemed beyond help to Ted’s horrified eyes at the beginning of the journey, was improving noticeably the more he drank and that Chris didn’t seem to mind even slightly about it. In fact Chris had his eyes half-closed and although he still radiated concern he seemed on some level to be enjoying it.   
  
“We get strength from our mates blood.”   
  
Ted had been sure his eyes had been on the road _tha_ t time. “You do?” It sounded stupid to his own ears, but what response could he really give to that?   
  
“Yeah.” Cody shifted a little in his seat, keeping his voice low. “That’s why Chris is feeding Evan now. We heal up fast, feeding helps that and feeding from a mate, that’s best of all. It’ll help him to heal quicker than otherwise, it takes a lot of our energy when we repair after those kind of injuries.”  
  
Ted nodded, slightly repulsed and at the same time fascinated. Even _knowing_ that Chris and Evan were vampires he had a problem envisioning them doing the blood-drinking thing, or _had_. He’d seen it now after all. Oddly enough, he’d had less problem in the beginning thinking of Cody doing the same, perhaps because it had felt to him as if not accepting it was admitting that Cody hadn’t come back to him at all.   
  
“You see any sign of that guy?” asked Chris suddenly from the back.   
  
“Nothing,” Cody reported. “Maybe he left us be.”   
  
“I doubt it,” said Chris rather grimly. “And we could be leading him right on top of the rest of the clan, but there’s nothing else we can do. Evan needs some attention – there’s broken bones and if they set wrong we’ll have to break them all over again tomorrow night.”   
  
                                                                                                                            ~:~   
  
Ted felt his stomach roll, but Cody’s hand resting on his thigh soothingly reassured him enough to get them all back to the manor. There weren’t any others cars out front of the manor but that meant very little, and as Chris eased Evan out of the bar of the car with him, the man still slightly unsteady and limp despite having some colour back in his face and seemingly no visible pain, Ted followed Cody inside--- knowing his lover had slowed to match pace with him. When they got inside there was no one in the living-room for a change and Cody gave an impatient growl before then stilling, eyes closing as he seemed to be bracing himself for something. Ted hesitated at his side.   
  
_“CHRISTIAN!”_ Cody suddenly shrieked at the top of his lungs (and though he hadn’t made much of habit of screaming back when he had been human he could be loud when he wanted to be) and not moments later the sound of feet on the hardwood floor was loud enough for even Ted to know they were coming. “What the fuck, Cody?!” Adam looked as though he’d been interrupted mid-shower and Christian was sans the hoody he had been wearing before, just in a t-shirt and jeans. Hunter and Shawn appeared moments later, clearly drawn by the alarm in their voices. Cody’s hand was around Ted’s and Ted swore that he could feel it shaking as Cody managed, “Evan. He, it—”   
  
“What about Evan?” Randy’s voice sounding beside him had Ted yelping and almost jumping into Cody’s arms; it would have been comical had the situation itself not been so frightening. They had _never_ had to deal with anything like this before; if others had ever crossed into their territory they usually stopped by for mere moments to pay respects before heading on, they’d very rarely had a confrontation before. Cody held Ted securely, protectively, guilty beyond-belief that his lover had obviously been so frightened even though he had been holding up so well until then.   
  
Cody didn’t need to answer because it seemed that Chris had appeared (if the sounds of shock coming from the assembled men were anything to go by) carrying Evan in his arms bridal style. Christian was at Evan’s side immediately, indicating Chris to take him into the living-room. Adam hastened to aid Christian (“He’s sort of his impromptu assistant for these things,” Cody whispered, knowing Ted would wonder why everyone was following, why they wanted to see what would probably happen) as Hunter and Shawn seemed to hesitate before following, sensing they’d need to push off and they’d just find out what happened from Chris.   
  
Slowly, looking almost as if he already had some idea what was going on –which was impossible, Cody thought to himself naively- John appeared beside Randy. They were a naturally paler species but John looked as though he was about to keel over. It was only because Randy was so focused on finding out what had happened to Evan that he didn’t notice this change in John. “It—“Cody bit his lip and then started on one of his mile-a-minute explanations that he had been famous for back in the day, “—Some massive guy ambushed us at the cinema. He wanted to know where you were, well, he didn’t ask for you by _name_ but he requested _our sire_ ,” he amended hastily.   
  
“Cody—“Randy started, clearly wanting to prompt Cody along but Cody wouldn’t be harried; it was important to his inner-child that their sire understood that they had done nothing to invite an altercation with the stranger. “He shoved Chris and then threw Evan into a wall, and then he said--- he said—“he glanced at Ted and the blonde swallowed before then taking up the story momentarily, _“Pass on a message for me – I’m coming for what’s mine. Good boy fido.”_ The sound of wood splintering drew their attention immediately to John, Randy’s expression clouding in puzzlement and concern for his new mate, “John?” he inquired.  
  
Clearly, John was attempting to keep himself as composed as he possibly could, but it wasn’t working--- the chunk slowly splintering away from the heavy wooden banister proved that. “This man,” John said, eyes completely fixated on Cody’s face, “Was he very tall? And muscled? Had tattoos?” Cody could only agree with the first two sentiments; the man had been too covered for him to see any tattoos. “He was wearing sunglasses and had short, dark hair. Not quite a skin-head but close to it. And his eyes…” Cody shivered as he thought about them, feeling Ted shivering as well from where he now stood within the circle of Cody’s arms.   
  
“His eyes were dead,” John said quietly, a horrible tone of finality and understanding in his voice. Cody and Ted exchanged a look as Randy’s jaw began to tick; a sure sign of irritation when he felt he was being left out of something. “Yes,” Ted finally responded and John’s hands covered his face momentarily, his entire body seeming to deflate. For a moment Cody thought that man would fall to his knees. “Fuck… Fuck, no, no, no….” John began to mumble to himself and for the first time in all of the years they had known the sire and grandsire, Cody and Randy saw something in John’s eyes when he looked up that they never expected: _pure fear._   
  
“John… You know who it is don’t you?” Randy asked his mate softly and John looked away momentarily. However, before this apparent development further a sudden high cry and hiss of pain sounded from the living-room. Without really thinking about it Randy immediately responded to his granchild’s pain, pausing in the doorway when he found that Christian was in the process of re-breaking Evan’s left arm and right hip so that he could reset them again correctly. It was an agonising process even for them, and Randy immediately promised silent retribution upon the person who had done this to his youngest child. _No one touched his family and got away with it._  
  
In the hallway, Ted found himself being left alone with John. Cody had followed his sire to tend his friend when he had heard the shouts and Ted couldn’t bring himself to do the same; he had never considered himself especially squeamish before (he had been a Marine at one time, after all) but hearing those cries and the unmistakable sound of bones breaking was enough to make his stomach roll as tumultuously as a washing-machine drum. When John suddenly glanced at him Ted froze; it wasn’t because he was scared of John per se, but because he had never seen such a harrowed expression before--- until he’d seen himself the night of Cody’s death.   
  
“Ted…” John made sure to walk human-speed towards the blonde so as not to frighten him, “Please, don’t tell them I’m leaving alright. I… I think I know who this guy is and if it’s who I think…” he shuddered, “It’d be safest for everyone if I got out of here. Can you just tell Randy… I’ll be back when I can.” Though knowing the apparent ‘stranger’ as he, _unfortunately_ , did, John knew that that time could be quite a way off. Unable to bring himself to refuse, despite the internal voice that told him Randy would be so pissed about this, Ted nodded and mumbled, “Alright John.” John sent him a brief smile, a small flash of dimples, and then he was gone.  
  
It was barely a second that John had closed the huge, heavy front door of the manor behind him that he recognised the other presence in the shadows immediately. The same feeling of cold, oppressive danger surrounded him and John fought the urge to quail; he was no impressionable young waif anymore, he was grown, he had a child of his own, he had a mate… _he wasn’t afraid of David Batista anymore._ “I had a bad feeling it was you,” John murmured, but he knew he didn’t have to speak any louder, Dave would hear him perfectly. “You’ve got some nerve Batista… picking on kids? Really? I always knew you were a creep, but this? No.”   
  
Dave was pouting at him in a manner that seemed almost obscenely childish as he stepped into John’s line of vision. “Aww, John, you don’t need to be so cruel you know. How long has it been since we’ve seen each other, and you don’t even say hello first? No greeting hug?” his dark eyes glimmered and he licked his bottom lip slightly in a disgustingly suggestive manner, “No kiss?” John felt his stomach roll and his lip curl in nausea, “No chance. What the fuck are you doing here Batista? Surely _he_ didn’t give you permission to come and bother me?” Their sire was rarely referred to by name. He was such a legendary figure that most doubted he even existed.   
  
For a moment something that looked like _unease_ appeared in Dave’s eyes before he then shrugged and pocketed the sunglasses he had been merely holding in his hand as they spoke. “No,” he finally conceded, “ _He_ didn’t give me permission to be here… but _the other one_ did.” The urge to groan overtook John powerfully; he should have _known._ “Get out of here, Batista,” John said dismissively, tensing when Dave suddenly started towards him but not fleeing as his instincts screamed at him to do. “But John,” Dave groaned low in his throat and blatantly inhaled the air around him, “It’s been _so long,_ surely in the depths of your solitude you’ve wanted--”  
  
All at once Dave stopped and John knew that he knew what had transpired between himself and Randy not half an hour before. It was only the shock he knew that had prevented the other vampires from really getting the chance to take note of the change in their sire’s scent and general presence. When it hit them he and Randy would undoubtedly face a barrage of questions but until that point… “YOU’VE MATED WITH HIM?!” the wild shriek echoed all the way across the grounds, sending whatever creatures and birds that had braved the odd aura of the estate to live in the woods surrounding it fleeing for their lives. John remained unflinching and unapologetic.   
  
_“Yes.”_   
  
As metal bent underneath his body, almost as though he’d pushed down on softened plastic, John promised that he would buy Chris a new car. Obviously it wouldn’t be happening that moment since Dave seemed to be attempting to put him through the car via the hand he had around his throat. He knew that fighting back was, well, not futile, but not the wisest cause of action when he had people he wanted to protect close by, and if he remained passive that would just further serve to enrage Dave… and there was a masochistic part of him that wanted to get Dave mad, to be insubordinate and show the man he had no control on him anymore.   
  
Before Dave could say anything else he was suddenly tensing again, attention attracted by something new. John registered the presence not seconds later and mentally cursed; it seemed they had been at this longer than he thought. The snarl that tore through the air was filled with pure, unadulterated territoriality and John felt something in him surge to respond to the unspoken command to return to Randy’s side. “Get your filthy hand off of my mate,” Randy’s fangs were bared as he stalked forward, eyes fixated on this stranger who had dared not only to attack his children, but then to come to his home and _assault his mate_ , “—and I might just settle for maiming you.”


	7. Once Upon A Legend Weary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John finally opens up about his past to Randy, which leads to finally confessing to his new clan the identity of his mysterious Sire in an attempt to explain his former 'connection' with Dave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay those of you who have been waiting- RL keeps getting in my way!

Dave straightened up, hand still around John’s throat, smirking at Randy. “John is promised to _me_ ,” he said, letting his own teeth show.   
  
Randy didn’t hide his expression fast enough; stunned disbelief crossed his face before he went back to fury. Dave laughed mockingly. “Aw, he didn’t tell you.”   
  
John’s hands flew out while Dave was distracted, grabbing his wrist and _snapping_. Dave yelped, releasing his hold on John and cradling his broken wrist to his chest, glaring as John landed on the ground on his feet. That was all Randy had been waiting for; as soon as he could see that John was safe he flew at Dave with a snarl of pure rage on his face. Dave stood his ground and the pair collided, Randy’s momentum knocking them both from the roof of the damaged car to the ground. John let out a yell, aware that he wasn’t alone – Hunter, Shawn and Adam were there too, faces masks of tension but not interfering – that was the last thing that Randy would want. This was a personal slight.   
  
The car hid the pair from view and John ran around it just in time to see that they were rolling, more a show of strength and dominance than an immediate attempt to kill each other, although that wasn’t going to last long John knew. Randy brought his head down sharply and his forehead came into contact with Dave’s nose; blood flowed and both men began fighting harder, the result of the scent of blood in the air. Regardless of whose it was, it always affected their kind.   
  
Dave _shoved_ and Randy went flying, hitting the side of the car and denting it still further. John, who had a real love of vehicles, winced at the sight of the crumpling metal and more so at the minor daze of his mate, but Randy was more or less unharmed. Dave took the break and raced to the gate, pausing a moment to fix his eyes on John.   
  
“You’re mine,” he said, staring a hole at John and no longer smirking. “ _He_ said it when we turned you and I don’t need _his_ permission to take you back. This isn’t over and your _mate_ …” His eyes flickered to Randy then back to John. “Can be taken out of the picture. You’re mine.”   
  
And then he was gone without a trace.   
  
Randy took a few steps to the gates and scented the air, the snarl never leaving his face, but John knew he wouldn’t be able to track him. Dave was too old, too wily and experienced and although they had good instincts when it came to chasing blood and heartbeats, that was thanks to the need to hunt for food, but when it came to tracking one another it was damned hard unless they were somehow linked through blood… which gave John one advantage over Randy.   
  
John realised with no surprise at all but a dull sense of expectation that everyone was looking at him. He was pretty sure that Hunter, Shawn and Adam were more angry than anything else given that it seemed he’d brought this man to the doorstep (and he had, he supposed) but his entire attention was on Randy. Randy was still wearing that furious expression but through their new bond John could feel his confusion and hurt. John dropped his head, fists clenching. _Fuck_. He thought he had managed to leave that part of his immortality behind him but here it was on his doorstep again – and dammit, didn’t he _deserve_ a little peace? How long and how far did have to run before he was free?   
  
Not this time. He had his mate and he couldn’t lose Randy. If Dave was really intent on following him to the ends of the earth, then he would just have to stand up and fight.   
  
Randy glanced over at his children, standing in a wary group. “Inside,” he said curtly with a sharp jerk of his head – but John thought that he could hear something else in the tone, perhaps a grudging gratitude. Certainly none of them seemed to resent the order, merely turning and going in with a few suspicious looks in John’s direction. Once they were, Randy looked over at John and once more John thought he could read the suspicion and hurt feelings there. He cursed inwardly. His whole reasoning had been to spare Randy all of this – but hadn’t he known that he was being pursued, wasn’t that the reason he had never remained in the same place for this long before? He should have warned Randy and then the clan would not have been unprotected. But he had been ashamed. He was still ashamed and he was going to have to tell Randy everything… because this time he didn’t think Randy would let him have his secrets, not when the well-being and safety of the clan were involved. Randy took his duties to his children very seriously.  
  
“I need to check on Evvie,” said Randy with what John thought was patience barely overlaid with real frustration. “Wait for me in our room.”   
  
John recognised the order even as a part of him resented it – he wasn’t one of Randy’s children and he wasn’t someone that Randy could direct. But he obeyed even so. Randy was pissed and John had to best think of how he was going to explain this mess. He went in the house and up the stairs, deliberately avoiding the living room where the others were gathered, tending to Evan and probably wanting explanations that Randy couldn’t give. Obviously he wanted to be the first to know and he had that right.   
  
There was always the option of running again of course, John realised as he went into the bedroom and leaned his forehead against the wall. He could flee, leave the clan and Dave would probably not bother them again. It wasn’t them he wanted, it was John… but that was no longer an option. The scent of sex was still redolent in the air and it only served to remind him that he and Randy were bonded to one another now, promised for the rest of eternity. That meant that he had gotten Randy involved and Dave wouldn’t bear the insult of John belonging to someone else. He would destroy Randy and his clan without a second thought because they had dared to care about him, whether or not they knew of his past. That wouldn’t matter to Dave at all. And besides, he didn’t want to run again. This was where he belonged and he had wandered too long to willingly give all this up.   
  
He supposed he could always go with Dave if he had the promise that the behemoth would leave the clan alone – Dave had no honour but he had a strange mindset sometimes and knowing what happened to their kind when they were forced to part from the one they were bonded to might just fill him with malicious glee at the thought of Randy slowly losing his mind, his purpose, being unable to protect the clan. But he would have no guarantees that safety would last forever and the same issues still applied, he didn’t want to run anymore and he didn’t want to lose his mate. And more than that, even the thought of being in the same room with Dave made his skin crawl with sheer loathing. He didn’t think he could put himself through that, nor did he think that Randy would let him. Randy would go to the ends of the earth to find him again.   
  
With a snarl that started low and rose in volume, he punched the wall, leaving a massive dent in the plaster. Why _now_? Why chase him at all? He had earned his freedom, every second of it. He had paid for it in sweat and blood.   
  
It wasn’t long before Randy walked into the room and closed the door with surprising quiet. John turned to him, uncertain as to how he was going to progress, although he could feel Randy’s emotions he had no idea which one would surface first. “How’s Evan?”   
  
“He’ll be fine tomorrow night,” replied Randy. “Although I’m not sure Chris is gonna be letting him go anywhere for a while. He’ll heal up fine and he’s feeding again.”   
  
John nodded – Chris would probably feel the blood loss but he wouldn’t have it any other way and they could both rest up. “That’s good news.”   
  
“What happened John?” asked Randy abruptly. “Who was that guy and why did he come looking for you? And why the _fuck_ would you go looking for him _alone_?”  
  
John shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather his thoughts, still scattered in spite of how hard he had been trying to think of a way to explain this in a way that didn’t made him sound like a fool or a coward – he hadn’t been any of those things in his opinion but he didn’t know how he could tell Randy just how it had been. He tried not to think of those dark days if he could possibly help it.   
  
“I thought I might be able to talk some sense into him and make him leave.”   
  
“You really thought that?”   
  
“Well, I knew I couldn’t,” said John. “But I had to try.”   
  
Randy leaned against the dresser, folding his arms in a way that John thought was a little overly confrontational, but he had probably brought it on himself. “Who is he?”   
  
John sighed. “He’s… oh hell. Have I ever told you about when I was human?”   
  
“No,” said Randy quite sharply. “And whenever I asked, you changed the subject or left the manor. I figured that now we’re bonded I’d have some answers.”   
  
Oh, but Randy wasn’t going to make this easier for him. “I was a soldier, like you.”   
  
“Actually you might have mentioned that part,” said Randy. “The night you turned me, you said you’d been a soldier.”   
  
“A long time before you were born of course, a _really_ long time.” John smiled but there wasn’t much humour in it. “I wasn’t sent overseas though, there were enough battles here with the country only just being colonised. There was this whole culture where it was a bit of a pissing contest, proving how tough you were, y’know? Who could fight the hardest, drink the most, talk the most willing women into bed, not that the last one was something I enjoyed doing a whole lot but I went along with it. There was one night, hell I don’t even remember where we were and we were all in a bar somewhere, waiting for new orders I think. We were a mess, every one of us and I suppose I might have let my guard down – my companions were either unconscious or incoherent. This guy started buying me drinks, matching me for each one and yeah, I got blitzed. The guy offered to get me back to the camp and I accepted… to be honest I was practically leaning on him, but he was big enough to half-carry me out of there. I’ve got quite a lot of breaks in my memory of that night, alcohol induced or not. I remember leaving the bar laughing my damned fool head off. The next thing I remember he’s raping me in the space between two of the buildings.”   
  
Randy just stared for a moment. “This guy Dave?”   
  
“Dave,” confirmed John, not meeting Randy’s eyes. It had been hundreds of years before but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still shame-faced about the whole situation. Admitting that he’d let himself get that drunk, that trusting, been so stupid… he knew in his head that he hadn’t invited any of it but the sense of shame prevailed anyway. He never liked to think of that night, preferring to think of his life beginning when he had gotten his own back.   
  
“I tried to fight him back but I’d lost my co-ordination hours before,” he continued, rather flatly. “And when I tried again, he got his mouth on my throat and ripped it right out.”   
  
He didn’t think he had ever seen Randy quite so still and even with his bond with the other, it was hard to gauge what he was thinking or feeling. The man’s concentration seemed to be on absorbing the facts rather than reacting to them. “I collapsed, dying obviously. You know those wounds though, it takes a couple of minutes even if it is quick. And next thing I know there’s someone else there, grabbing Dave and throwing him across the alley. I wasn’t really scared at that point, I kinda figured I was dying and there wasn’t much point. I _think_ I was trying to make peace but I might be uh, superimposing that on my memories. I was on the ground and this man said something about how Dave was supposed to be able to control himself and hadn’t he learned anything… it’s hazy. I didn’t much care, it didn’t seem all that important at the time.”   
  
He let out a sigh. “And then someone was feeding me blood. Wrist wound, nice and neat. I tried to turn my head away but I was weak as anything and in the end I drank. And then I died.”   
  
Randy bowed his head slightly. “You met me in a bar.”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“You said one time you met _most_ of your food in a bar. Is that where the idea came from?”   
  
“Sort of. I’ll tell you this much though Randy, I sure as hell never did that to _my_ food. And I only ever lost control one time. The alcohol makes people think they’re imagining things and makes them more likely to go with me but I take care of them. I would never do that, you know it.”   
  
“I do know.” Randy raised his head a little and then to John’s surprise, crossed the room and sat beside him, taking John into his arms. “What happened next? Was it Dave feeding you?”   
  
“No.” John gave a sad little smile. “But it sounds like you worked that out already.”   
  
“He doesn’t sound like he was in the mood to create a convert John.”   
  
“He didn’t do too badly out of it. I was punishment, you see?” Randy clearly didn’t and John continued. “It was supposed to be at least. The one who found us was…” Oh, how was he going to explain this without going into the realm of myth too far too soon? “He was the brother of Dave’s sire, they were part of the same clan and they ruled it with an iron fist, not that they saw eye to eye too often. Dave’s sire wasn’t too bothered about how Dave fed but my sire was troubled by it. He thought it could only lead back to them in the end and create real trouble for all of them – us. He thought that by changing me he was giving Dave some responsibility for his actions, teaching him a lesson by giving him a protégé. Wasn’t too long before he realised he just gave Dave a new toy but by then it was too damned late for me.”   
  
He stared off into the distance, his mind almost entirely on the past, barely feeling Randy’s arms around him. “Dave wasn’t too interested in teaching me how to be safe around humans. Mostly he thought we should be making sure the bodies were buried too deep to be found, or disposed of cleanly. I didn’t even know it was possible to take blood and not kill or turn the people for a long time. I only went out with Dave as my chaperone and between us we killed a lot of people. I don’t think anyone really noticed, you know how different things were back then. People went missing and sometimes they’d just taken off, no way of telling. No paper trails, no records. A change of name was as easy as just deciding to be called something else and we used that to our advantage a whole lot…” He forced himself to get back on track. “I found out by asking my sire and _he_ said I didn’t have to kill. The first time I was out alone I tried it out and he was right. I just had to control myself and by then I’d been with the clan four years. _Four long years._ I thought that if I learned and went to my sire to beg my freedom, I might just get it. I didn’t think I could live with Dave as my mentor any longer… I don’t want to get into how bad it could get. Dave had charge over _every_ aspect of my life and if you think the first time he fucked me was bad, it only got worse from there. I think in the end that I only got some semblance of freedom and let out on my own because he was getting a bit bored of having me around him all the time and he wanted to do some things without me tagging along. And he couldn’t force me to stay inside when he wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t my damned sire.”   
  
John shrugged, anxious to finish. “So I learned. And I went to my sire and told him I wanted to be gone and he granted me my freedom, with a warning. He could tell Dave that he wasn’t to go looking for me, but he wasn’t sure how long he could hold Dave to that, since he wasn’t Dave’s sire and the man who _was_ probably wasn’t that interested in my well-being. So I left. I didn’t want to stay still for long in case Dave caught up with me. I _knew_ him Randy and he might have been losing interest back then, might even have found some way to kill me for his own amusement but he sure as hell didn’t like to be thwarted. He doesn’t like to lose and I knew he’d not like losing me. Even all these years later, he hasn’t let it go. And he won’t.”   
  
Randy was silent as he digested all of this. “Your sire. Why would he allow any of this to go on under his roof?”   
  
“It’s hard to explain. He had compassion for sure and he regretted what he’d done even if he didn’t go back on it ‘til I asked to be released from the clan. But he uh… he was _old_. He hadn’t been human in centuries and he didn’t have much in the way of empathy. He made a mistake but he still hoped that making Dave responsible for me might give him something like – I don’t know, understanding or compassion. But Dave’s a psycho. It’s not even that he doesn’t care, he _enjoys_ making other lives hellish. It makes him feel better or something and trying to give him some feeling for others, it was never gonna work.”   
  
“Making you an experiment so that some guy he _knows_ is unbalanced doesn’t sound much like an act of compassion,” said Randy and John could sense the underlying anger in the man, concern for his mate on the top of that. Not necessarily a good combination and the last thing John needed at that point was Randy harbouring a grudge against his sire. Especially when he suspected they might need him.   
  
“Like I said, he’s not got the same grasp on emotions as we do. It’s like he remembers the shape and how he _should_ react, but he doesn’t really get it. Things seem like a good idea and then he doesn’t get why on earth it’s not working out. He can’t get the human element and we all retain a lot of that for centuries. It’s been too long for him to understand but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t do his best. And as far as I know, I was the last one he made.”   
  
“He’s still around?”   
  
“Trust me, I’d know if he wasn’t. And I don’t know that he’ll _ever_ die.”   
  
Randy chewed on his lip for a few moments and John wondered if he was going to pick up on what he had _really_ said about his past or if his rage against Dave would make him overlook it. That rage was still there but he knew how _hard_ Randy was holding on to it. Randy tended to explode at bad moments but without Dave right in front of him, it was easier for him to contain the fury and focus on his mates well-being and it helped that it was too close to dawn now for a prolonged search. Had Dave been there, Randy would have fought to the death and John was terribly afraid that the next time the vampire showed his face – and there _would_ be a next time – that was exactly what would happen. And as strong as Randy was, he was relatively sane. Dave had nothing like that holding him back.   
  
“Who’s your sire?”   
  
Blunter than John was expecting but he couldn’t say he hadn’t been waiting for the question. He grimaced slightly and was quiet as he tried to think of something that didn’t sound like bullshit, but Randy seemed to be putting the pieces together himself. “You said he had a brother and they don’t like each other. That they both rule the clan. Just like in the old myths.”   
  
“Yeah.…” John hadn’t been entirely sure if Randy would have heard the myths, given that he’d had no sire or clan to guide him upon awakening. But vampires had a lot of time and as much interest in their history as humans; there were written histories if one knew where to find them and was willing to pay. A human would probably pass them off as wishful thinking or pure story, but so did a lot of the vampires. John had met vampires on his travels but never one who really believed the stories. Unless they were part of that clan.   
  
Randy frowned as he thought it over. “There were brothers and they were both vampires and they fought for dominance. And the elder one was tricked and disposed of for hundreds of years until his children managed to raise him again.”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“He made some kind of deal for immortality to avenge his family’s death and ended up spreading it – if I remember rightly.”   
  
“That’s what some of the books say. He never mentioned it. We talked about it in whispers.”   
  
“ _He_ was your sire?”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
Randy let out a long sigh, tightening his grip on his mate. “Shit John. I wish you’d told me a long time ago.”   
  
“I didn’t know _how_! What the hell was I going to say about it, that I had more blood on my hands than you ever did, or that my experience of a clan was so different to what you created that I didn’t trust there wasn’t something else going on? And then I fell in love with you and I didn’t want to burden you with all of this…”   
  
“You are _never_ a burden to me,” Randy said firmly, moving so that he could look into his mates eyes. “I wish I’d known so that I could have done something about it, helped somehow. I don’t like that you’ve been going through this alone. I knew there was something, even before we were bonded but if I’d have known…” He exhaled. “I would never have turned you away. You know this Dave coming for you, that’s not your fault right? And none of the clan are gonna blame you for a moment when they know how it is – a very abridged version,” he added as John stiffened in his arms. “They don’t need to know everything, just that you and Dave were in a clan together and he assumed that you’d end up being mates, can’t take it that you’re not.” He paused. “ _Did_ he assume that?”   
  
“I don’t think so. He just doesn’t want me to do anything without me.” John’s voice was dull. “I’m his, that’s how he sees it. I don’t have the right to bond with anyone unless he wants me to. And he doesn’t want me like that and it wouldn’t matter if he did because you can’t bond with someone unwilling. He just doesn’t want to let me go.”   
  
“He’ll have to,” said Randy with an almost eerie calm. “Because he’s not ripping us apart. He’s not taking you anywhere and if he doesn’t go quietly then I’m gonna make sure he goes screaming. And he’s not gonna go quietly, we both know it. I’m going to kill him and then leave the corpse for the sun to take.”   
  
                                                                                                                               ~:~   
  
Though he didn’t doubt those words for a moment John knew that things were probably not going to be that simple for them on the matter. Placing his head in his hand momentarily John mumbled, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never thought that…” the brunette fell quiet but because of their bond Randy understood what he was feeling: John had finally seemed himself safe enough to let his guard down.   
  
And if he had anything to do with it then he was going to do his best to make sure that John felt that way again as soon as possible. He was going to take Dave out of the equation completely. Even if he hadn’t taken a move again his mate Randy would have seriously maimed or killed him because of what he had done to Evan alone--- or even as retaliation and their own safety because of the way this man fed. Randy wondered how many murders or missing persons that he had seen over the years, on TV or in the papers etc. were due to this lunatic. Even if he thought that John might know the answer he knew also that he _really_ didn’t want to ask.   
  
“You need to go downstairs,” Randy said quietly, moving to John and using a finger underneath the man’s chin to have John’s attention turned towards him once more. John’s eyes widened and something akin to panic flashed in the bright blue depths once more. Despite understanding why John would be uncertain about such a course of action at the same time he knew that he couldn’t baby John on the matter; he had to do it, and because John had reacted as he had Randy knew that he knew it as well. “You need to go downstairs and we need to tell everyone about this Dave bastard,” it was for their safety to know the details.   
  
“I meant it when I said you don’t need to tell everyone everything,” Randy muttered. Rape was one of the hardest things to admit he had learned over time, the media being often very vocal on the matter those days (rape could almost be considered to have not actually even existed in his time, even though he knew that that was preposterous--- the sentiment was right though) and he assumed that for a man like John to admit to such an event… Well it couldn’t be easy for him. It was one thing to admit a thing to his mate, the one you were to trust and cherish, and vice versa, for all of eternity, but to tell his grand-children… he didn’t see that happening as straightforwardly.   
  
“I can’t,” John whispered, and Randy felt his white-hot fury licking at his insides; whoever this Dave man was, he had managed to reduce his calm, compassionate and loyal mate into something almost like a soft kitten that could do nothing to defend itself. OK, maybe that was a _little bit too far for_ an analogy, but the point was right: this man had brought out an element of terror that Randy had never seen in his sire before. Seeing that one’s sire was really not as untouchable as one may be led to believe was always a startling moment, but since said sire was also his mate Randy was doubly shaken by the knowledge. Composing himself Randy then stood up.   
  
“Come on,” he said, and his tone broke no arguments. For several long moments John remained like statue (looking almost like ‘The Thinker’ with the way his head was back in his hand) unmoving, but then he slowly lifted his head once more and accepted the hand that Randy was extending to him. Pathetic though some might have considered it for him to show his fear before his child like this John didn’t care. It wasn’t even his own wellbeing and safety that concerned him--- what concerned him was what _would_ (no ifs were involved where Dave was, one way or another it was always _would_ ) happen to the little clan if something didn’t happen to stop the behemoth.   
  
The trip downstairs took very little time at all, which was unsurprising of course, but even so John’s heels dug in a little… almost to the point where he dented one of the wooden steps without meaning to. It was something that could easily be fixed, so when John quietly began creating a fuss over it –obviously hoping that it might distract Randy for a bit- Randy merely continued walking, not releasing the other’s hand. All too soon they were walking into the living-room where everyone else was gathered. Evan was once again in Chris’ lap, the young vampire’s eyes closed and his body unnaturally still the way John’s had been back up in the bedroom.   
  
Had you not known what had happened to him you may have just thought he was sleeping; those of ‘an equal persuasion’ as they referred to it in public knew that Evan was utilising a rest-like mode to try and gain more positive nutrients and suchlike from his mate’s blood. Christian was still looking at him warily but other than that the doctor of the clan seemed contented that he had done all that he needed to do to make Evan better. As soon as he and Randy entered the room though Evan’s eyes opened… and John felt himself descending into a whole new level of guilt-fuelled hell when the young vampire merely smiled at him. Weaker than usual perhaps, but genuine.  
  
To be fair though it wasn’t Evan’s wrath per se that John was worried about: he was more concerned about what Chris might try and do to him. Statistically, and hierarchically John might have had the advantage over the blonde man but (as he felt Randy had demonstrated not an hour before in his scuffle with Dave) he knew that there was every chance Chris would go for him with everything he had to gain some sort of retribution for the injuries that his mate sustained by someone John had known about but never warned them of. “Evan…” he swallowed thickly, uncomfortably aware of all of the eyes of the occupants in the room being focused solely upon him and nowhere else.   
  
Reluctantly John could admit that even if Chris deemed his unwillingness to believe he’d ever be in contact with Dave again nowhere near a good enough reason to not have at least mentioned the man again he wouldn’t be able to hold it against him. Hadn’t he had that small sense of foreboding deep down but just ignored it because he hadn’t wanted to consider the prospect of facing what it meant? “I’m sorry,” John said, and Randy could sense how hard it was for John to say that. Not because he didn’t feel it, or because he deemed Evan a lesser vampire to him, but because John felt as though the words alone were just _not enough_ to make it up to him.   
  
“It’s not your fault John,” Evan murmured back, the muteness of his usual jovial voice showing that he was still in the midst of recovery. At best he’d need just that following day for undisturbed rest and he’d be fit as a fiddle again--- but if something happened to go wrong (a bone not setting properly or something even despite Christian’s efforts) then he’d need more time. And possibly more blood than Chris could be comfortably able to give him. “It’s not like you set him on us,” Shawn snorted softly at this and Randy’s head snapped around, sending his child a look of warning that had Shawn looking away. John didn’t acknowledge him though. _Couldn’t._   
  
Out of the whole clan Evan was the one who he had to make peace with, whose forgiveness he actually _needed_. “John,” Evan repeated again, still smiling and with his bright eyes as warm as always, “Don’t worry about it. It could have gone much worse and I’m just grateful that it didn’t--- and it was better that guy went for me than Ted.” Cody bristled at the mere thought and released a low growl before he could stop himself. Though Ted blanched somewhat (Randy was pleased to find Ted was a human who bothered to actually use that head on his shoulders since he had obviously understood the implications of the situation without explanation) he said nothing.   
  
A caress through his hair from his mate seemed to be enough to calm Cody down, though the dark haired vampire still looked torn between fear and fury at what could have happened had Dave focusing on Ted been a bit more physical than just a brief message being passed on. Chris also looked distinctly unhappy, but Randy knew that it wasn’t because he was somehow wishing that Ted was the one who had been thrown around instead, but because Evan had implicated that someone was worth more than he. As far as two bonded mates were concerned _no-one_ , or indeed, _anything in the world,_ meant more than their mate did respectively.   
  
John’s shoulders sagged; he was clearly relieved by the removal of blame by Evan for what had happened, but how long it took for him to actually _accept_ the words personally was a different matter altogether. Exhaling slightly as Randy pulled John to then sit down, John allowed his mate to have his moment talking to the group; they might be his grandchildren but they were Randy’s directly, and as such their link was much stronger even if they had an undeniable instinct to respect and even fear him or some level. “That man… Was from John’s past,” Randy started. It might have seemed pretty obvious by that point but it was as good a start point as any.   
  
“He was _not_ John’s sire, nor was he _ever_ a candidate for John’s mate,” the men in the room, bar Ted and John, visibly shifted as their sire’s agitation flooded through them, letting them know at least a little how their leader was feeling right then. “He is a vicious and dangerous man who kills for fun, the type who gives credit to all of the Hollywood hype about how dangerous and uncaring our kind is,” John would have found it amusing that Randy could have waxed so poetically and succinctly about it had he not been so relieved that he wasn’t having to tell his story in detail, or himself; he felt drained enough telling it to Randy. “John was murdered by that man.”   
  
Several startled expressions appeared on their faces before they seemed to make an attempt to school their features; John didn’t blame them for that one though, because everyone in the room bar himself (and Cody to some extent he acknowledged) had been turned through much more… well, their situations weren’t as overwhelmingly _violent_ as theirs had been. “But, as I said, John was turned by someone else.” As always Adam was the one to cut in to speak: “Who _is_ your sire?” John had no idea whether he genuinely cared or not, but it was apparent that either way he had an interest. Randy glanced at him briefly and John offered a half-hearted shrug, permitting him to tell.   
  
Though their silent conversation had taken little more than a couple of seconds at best it seemed that that was much too long of a wait for Adam. Christian’s hand on his knee however stopped the blonde from interrupting again, which was probably a good idea because although Randy let interruptions slide more of the time he would get very pissed indeed if it happened more than once. “Well… I don’t believe anyone really knows his real name anymore,” Randy started, and John nodded slightly; he had only ever known both him and his brother by the names they had been labelled with over time, “But I doubt you’ll need them.”   
  
The visible, if momentary hesitation was enough to have all of his clan focusing whatever of their attention might have been previously wandering back to their sire. For his credit Randy looked completely unaffected by their attention. Not to sound too arrogant but when he had been living he had always been the centre of attention wherever he had gone, either because of his sword and sporting skills or his looks so that was probably why it didn’t affect him. “You know the man commonly as… The Undertaker.” Even the television playing quietly in the background seemed to lose its sound and go still at the sound of the name.   
  
“That’s impossible!” Hunter then sputtered, staring at Randy and John with a look that said quite clearly he was trying to figure out whether they were taking the piss out of them or not. Ted looked around the room, wondering if he could get someone to explain--- but given that he wasn’t the only one in the room who was sporting an uncertain expression he figured he’d be getting his explanation sooner rather than later. “Who?” Evan asked, and Cody also looked confused. It wasn’t just the two youngest vampires though--- even Christian and Adam didn’t seem to know who he meant. Hunter didn’t respond verbally, but stood up.   
  
“He’s a legend,” Hunter said, lowering his tone seemingly without even realising it; as though afraid that saying the man’s name too loud or too often would somehow conjure him up magically, and with the implication that they would _not_ want that to happen. “He’s so much of a legend that most people don’t even think he exists!” he stared at John this time as though seeing the man in a whole new light. “He’s one of the most archaic progenitors of our kind, and the first to actually consider treating those our kind feeds from with some humanity…” he then frowned, and for a moment he looked uneasy, “That isn’t to say he’s soft or compassionate though.”   
  
“He’s as dangerous as they come,” Shawn picked up the tale effortlessly, getting straight to the point and not show-boating such matters with funny voices and big dramatic pauses the way that he might occasionally do, “And his brother’s just as bad. Kane however, in short, is _fucking insane._ They are two guys you _do not want to fuck around with_.” Shaking his head somewhat the long-haired man eyed John somewhat apprehensively, “So you were sired by Master ‘Taker?” when John nodded he asked, “And that other guy…?” his tone said he’d already guessed, but was clearly seeking affirmation of his thoughts. “Kane,” John mumbled dully, “It was Kane.”   
  
Cody’s arms went around Ted tighter, enough to make the man groan quietly despite himself, and the ravenette hastened to loosen his grip enough to prevent causing the other further disquiet with a silent look of deep apology to which Ted merely smiled about briefly and nodded in acknowledgement. “I left the clan a long, long time ago,” John then murmured, figuring that Hunter and Shawn had no more to say about his sire, “I had Master ‘Taker’s permission, and I’ve been living solo ever since. I never had any contact with my old clan, not even my sire, and so you can imagine how much of a surprise Dave’s return was…” he pinched the bridge of his nose.   
  
“Um—“Ted blushed slightly when everyone looked at him when he started speaking, but regardless he carried on; there was a chance that Cody could come into contact with this man again and he wanted to therefore know everything that they could about him, “Would your…” he hesitated momentarily, brow furrowing, “Sire?” it came out as something as a question and every man in the room nodded in a perfect –and somewhat unnerving- tandem before Ted continued his question, “Allow him to come after you like this? Especially targeting another clan to do it?” He found himself suddenly thinking it was almost like the Mafia.   
  
“Well… Master ‘Taker wouldn’t,” John said slowly, obviously thinking the answer through even as he gave it, “He wouldn’t do that just because he respects individual clans right to exist and has always had the modus operandi that nothing should be done unless something is done to his own first.” Randy was quietly contemplating as John spoke, wondering whether the fact that Dave seemed to be acting rogue on ‘Taker’s views at least would mean that he had free rein to do what he saw fit as punishment. “What about Kane?” Evan suddenly inputted and Chris tensed slightly. John then looked rueful, “Well, Kane was always controlled by ‘Taker. Sort of.”   
  
No one could exactly _control_ Kane, but ‘Taker was the only one who had some sort of measure of _influence_ over the man at least. “I doubt he’d really care about Dave personally,” he said a little dryly, “I don’t know if he’s _ever_ known what it means to care about something, but the fact that it’s his child might lead to him planning something…” he looked at Randy when the man suddenly inputted, “Unless we went to ‘Taker first and _discussed_ the matter with him.” The emphasis was apparent: Randy was not going to ask permission, not even to someone of legend like ‘Taker. Slowly, John nodded his head, “Yeah, we can do that.”   
  
Adam, clearly trying to adjust to the bombshells that had been dropped on them all that evening, then asked, “Do we need to send for a carrier-pigeon or something to go and get a written message to him?” John looked confused for a moment and Randy couldn’t help but give a small twitch of the lips as a smile when the man answered in a fashion that said he clearly missed the punch-line per se, “We can just use the phone to call him…” he had the number written down somewhere. Archaic though ‘Taker was he had gotten in touch with him a few decades back when he had obtained a phone… and John doubted he had utilised the use of change of address-cards recently.   
  
Silence descended over the group thick and unbroken for what seemed like ages--- only broken when Ted suddenly yawned. The blushing human broke the spell of sobriety briefly as hastily glances were shot to the clock. More time had passed then they had realised and Ted barely had the chance to react when he heard a muttered, “Fuck,” from Cody and Evan in tandem before both men’s head fell back as their eyes rolled up. Before Ted could even work himself into a panic Randy murmured, “Sunrise is an hour away… they can’t last much longer.” He sent a significant look to the others in the room; they only had half an hour left.   
  
Getting off of Cody hastily Ted then waved off an offer from Hunter to carry Cody up to bed with him. “He doesn’t seem any heavier than he was—“his throat bobbed, “Before, so I can manage. Thanks,” he added as an afterthought, though he had noticed that Hunter seemed to like to drop small comments that seemed to highlight the fact that he was still human and the others weren’t. When he moved to shift his unmoving, un-breathing lover, he wondered if maybe something _had_ changed in Cody since the last time he’d carried him--- but aside from the momentary awkwardness since his body wasn’t exactly pliable it was easy.   
  
Hesitating momentarily when he passed John and Randy, Ted found himself murmuring, “Goodnight,” to them both before he started upstairs. Chris nodded to them silently as he passed, carrying the sleeping Evan upstairs with the utmost care. Christian hovered slightly himself before then heading out with Adam, Hunter and Shawn following and going to their own rooms. A quiet sound left John once they were alone and Randy could feel the weariness emanating from him through his emotions even without looking at the dejected –if still impressive- figure he cut. Standing up, Randy took his hand and indicated upstairs, “Come on, let’s go to bed as well, John.”   
  
The surprise on John’s face made Randy’s brows arch; sure they hadn’t actually discussed John moving in further than their brief conversation before, but he was hardly going to chuck him out now was he? The man was his mate and this was nothing that they couldn’t handle so long as they were strong and united. Much as Randy knew he’d like to take Dave out himself he was already personally acknowledging the fact that he was going to have to rely on his children to aid him at some point… even if it was only setting up somewhere where he could leave the corpse to be taken out of the equation properly. “You planning on sleeping down here?”   
  
Shaking his head somewhat John stood up automatically, allowing Randy to lead him up to bed. They didn’t talk much when they got up there, and had John not now got the ability to understand Randy’s emotions then he would have been sure that that was a sign that Randy was still pissed off with him. Not that he would have blamed him, but he would have preferred it to not be the case obviously. Having Randy angry at him before bothered him, but having the man mad at him now would be even worse because of their bond. It didn’t take long for even those two to sink into a restive state that night, wearier than they’d care to admit.


	8. The Blink Of An Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted has a showdown with Layla about personal matters between he and Cody, and Ted then finds some interesting literature which leads to an eye-opening conversation with Chris.

The following day Ted found himself awakening much sooner than he would have liked; Cody was still out for the count and that told him therefore it wasn’t night-fall even though he obviously couldn’t see because of the heavily covered windows. It was the first time in his –admittedly short- stay that he had awoken before his lover. Momentarily Ted was at a loss of what to do; he had been told that if this happened he’d be alright because the only vampires in the house would recognise him if the elder ones rose sooner, but even so Ted didn’t like the idea of wandering around himself. In the end though his stomach informed him that he had _no choice._

Getting off of the bed with care (even though he knew he could have jackhammered the floor by Cody’s head and the man wouldn’t have even rolled over) Ted then headed into the bathroom to answer nature’s call, and then ended up showering afterwards since he needed one, and then he headed downstairs once he was dressed. He thought it was a miracle that he had only gone the wrong way twice since he hadn’t been through the house on his own as of yet, and when he reached the foyer he heaved a sigh of relief; he actually recalled the way he was supposed to go from there. It was eerie that there seemed to be no one else about in the house at this time.

Cody had said that they had humans in the house to take care of what they couldn’t do during the day, and he had expected to eventually run into some. However, it seemed that this must have been a day when they didn’t have none… or they were people that were really good at hiding themselves out of sight and blending into the background. Reaching the kitchen Ted almost faltered as he found himself confronted with the floozy that had attempted to drape herself over Cody like a cheap suit the day before. For the first time in his life Ted suddenly wished he was a woman; that way he could do exactly what he wanted to do to her without being ‘bad’ for it.

~::~

Layla turned her head as Ted walked into the kitchen and gave a vague smirk, turning her attention back to the counter she was wiping over. Ted frowned, then set his jaw – he had been invited to stay there by Cody, Randy was more than fine with it and there was no way that he was being chased out of the kitchen by this uppity cow. Anyway, he was starving. He didn’t bother to acknowledge Layla since she hadn’t said even hello and went to the fridge, debating for a moment. The clock said it was a quarter to seven and the sun went down a little before eight at this time of year. He had enough time to make something substantial and have it eaten by the time Cody woke, although with everything going on and Layla’s presence he might just go and eat in their room. Or maybe he’d see what was in the library Cody had mentioned. Whatever he did, he didn’t want to be away from Cody come nightfall, not with that big bastard that had attacked Evan the night before on the loose. He was under no illusions as to how much use he could be defending his lover but that hardly mattered; if Dave managed to break in then he would do whatever it took to protect Cody. He just wished he knew what the legends that the others had referred to were. There was something very intriguing about the thought of John being sired by someone considered myth.

He realised he was staring into the fridge and quickly pulled himself together, realising he could feel eyes boring into him – that had to be Layla. Suddenly it seemed a bad idea to be spending half an hour or so cooking and he decided a quick omelette would be better, done in ten minutes and away from her. He supposed Cody would be displeased if he said he hadn’t felt comfortable anywhere in the house and that was why he had no intention of mentioning it.

Except that it seemed he might not be able to get away with it. As soon as he turned on the stove and found the frying pan Layla took that as a cue to wait until he had finished and presumably tidy up after him. Well, that was awkward. Ted made a mental note that next time he should just make sandwiches.

“You’re Cody’s fiancé,” she said suddenly, almost a flat statement.

Ted glanced at her. “Yeah. I am.”

“How long have you been going out?”

Ted paused a moment. That was a strange question when he thought about it, not to ask but to answer. “Three years,” he settled for in the end, which was how long they had dated before Cody had been murdered. He could hardly add the two years spent apart, could he?

“You’ve never been here before and Cody doesn’t go out,” she said accusingly.

Already Ted was starting to wonder if any of the clan would notice if he disposed of her somehow. Not that he would ever raise a hand to her but it was nice to think about when he was being put on the spot and he was feeling defensive of his relationship with his lover and what had happened. “We got engaged before he got here.”

“When he was _human_?”

Ted glanced at Layla, continuing to make his meal but getting increasingly irritated. She had sounded oddly smug about finding _that_ out. “Yeah.”

“Is he going to turn you?”

And _there_ was a question that Ted had been trying to avoid thinking about, at least until he had become used to Cody’s vampirism as it was already. Cody hadn’t mentioned it and neither had he, but since Cody had told him how vampires behaved with their mates and about bonding, he had wondered. He and Cody were meant to be together, he had known that long before any of this had happened. It was the reason he had proposed in the first place, because he knew he could never live without the other man (and nearly hadn’t been able to) and there was no one else in the world for him. But… from what had been said by some of the clan, they were _ancient_ , Randy a couple of hundred years old and John even older than that – and other vampires even older than _that_. His lifespan was probably a blink of an eye to them. He had imagined spending his life with Cody, both of them growing old together. Except that Cody wasn’t going to grow old, wouldn’t age. Wouldn’t die. While Ted would still have time working against him, turning thirty, forty, sixty, while Cody remained in his twenties for the rest of eternity. Why would he still want Ted when Ted was growing old and grey and Cody never got so much as a wrinkle? 

He had the time to think it over, come to terms with everything and make a decision based on what both he and Cody wanted without the emotion of his lovers return affecting it. But he had never been more aware of his own fragile mortality than he had been of late and for the first time since Cody had died, he genuinely had a reason to go on living.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” he said sharply, turning his attention to his meal and wishing it would be ready faster. Even ten minutes was too long with this woman asking him personal questions and he just hoped that his brusque answer would put her off.

He hoped in vain. Layla leaned against the counter, merely watching Ted as he poured the mixture into the pan and mentally cursed, hoping it would be ready in a big hurry. “Maybe he won’t. Things are different now after all.”

Ted completely ignored her and Layla continued, warming to her theme. “It’s all very well when you’re humans but Cody’s a vampire now and you must have a life and a job. You’re not ready for any of this and it’s hardly something you asked for. You shouldn’t have to deal with this over some sense of duty. And Cody would be better off with someone who _does_ know what’s involved, someone who’s been preparing for it for a long time and isn’t worried about how it affects themselves. Like me. I’ve been waiting for this a long time, not like you—“

Ted turned on her and Layla quailed back a moment, as if expecting to be struck. There was no way Ted would do such a thing but it was the closest in his life he had ever come to striking a woman. His hands bunched into fists at his sides and he spoke in slow, measured tones. “Cody is not a means to an end, he’s not a doorway so that you can be some storybook vampire. He’s _mine_ and you need to remember that. Vampire _or_ human, it doesn’t matter because he is _my_ fiancé and you stay the hell away from him from now on. Clear?”

“Crystal,” mumbled Layla, snatching up her cloth and hurrying out, leaving the job half-finished. Ted exhaled shakily and turned his attention back to the omelette. It was starting to burn and he flipped it, but he didn’t think it was going to make much difference because he’d lost his appetite somewhere along the line. Nevertheless he finished up, dumped the meal onto a plate and then (rather vindictively) left the plates in the sink for Layla to deal with – he was sure she’d be back once he was gone. She wouldn’t want to have any black marks against her name, but Randy _had_ to know that she was hoping for a trip to immortality. He wondered why he kept her on if that was the case – well, he must have his reasons. He’d allowed her to continue working there after all, perhaps he thought her hopes would mean she’d keep quiet.

He carried the plate with the vague idea of checking out what was on television but he really didn’t feel like watching the unreality of the programmes that might be on offer. The idea of the library occurred to him again and he vaguely remembered that Cody had indicated the general direction it was in. He found the room, a smallish one with a table and chair in it and two of the walls lined with books – he wasn’t at all sure that Randy was a big reader but he supposed that he might be wrong about that, given that most of the houses occupants were born and died long before the advent of television, reading was probably how they had entertained themselves at one point. And he had an ulterior motive. When Cody had first approached him and he’d had daylight to work with (and  daylight was now the enemy, anything that could harm Cody in _any_ way was nothing he wanted anything to do with) he had gone to the library to do research; come to think of it he’d left the books back in their apartment and pretty soon he’d be racking up some serious fines. He hadn’t found much worth noting and it turned out what he _had_ learned was wrong, or had no bearing on the current situation. But in a house owned by actual vampires, there might be a little more accuracy.

Setting his plate on the table, he ignored the food for the time being and looked at the shelves, losing himself for a few minutes in the sheer variety of what was on offer. Ted enjoyed books well enough but he wasn’t exactly an avid reader and tended to stick to crime thrillers. People in _this_ house however were more adventurous, although he supposed there were a wider number of tastes to cater to. There were surprisingly few of the blockbuster paperbacks that made up most peoples bookcases, he supposed that once read they were handed off. The keepers appeared to be hardbacks and well read, although there were a few very elderly exceptions. Those didn’t grab Ted’s attention though, he was playing a little game where he tried to match genre with vampire. He recognised at least two that would be Cody’s, someone was into werewolf novels which made Ted grin at the mere thought considering there seemed to be no vampire books at all. There were several sports biographies and an entire two shelves that seemed to consist of musicians biographies. What was it Cody had said? _Don’t touch Chris’s guitar_. They’d be his.

One of the books caught his eye; _Around the world in spandex_. His own father had that one, a gift from one of his sons for fathers’ day one year, a photographic history of some tour of his favourite teenage band. Beside it was another book that seemed more recent; _The Jericho Enigma._ He frowned a little as some connection in his head struggled for his attention and pulled the recent book off the shelf. The picture on the front was obviously taken a long time before the book had been published but the editor had done their best with what they had, not that Ted was at all concerned with the artistic qualities of the jacket. He was almost sure even with the singer caught on stage mid-lyric with hair all over his face and when he flicked through and found a studio picture he knew for sure. Cody had never given him a last name for anyone, it seemed largely irrelevant for the most part but Ted had been sure he knew Chris from somewhere and this was it. A long, long time ago he had been a singer and might have sunk into relative obscurity if not for the enigma of his death.

Curious, Ted took the book over to the table, shoving his plate out of the way with the contents uneaten and studying the pictures that were interspersed in the text. It was damned strange to see someone he knew pictured in such a historic context and presumably this would mean Chris would be closing in on ninety or older had he not been changed. Shaking his head, Ted spent a while looking over the pictures until he found one nearer the end that caught his attention. The focus was the band sitting on a couch in a room filled with people, smoke, bottles, a small glimpse of backstage rock n’ roll decadence. Chris was just about visible in the background, dressed in a style to match the age that would have made Ted laugh under other circumstances, a rather suspicious looking cigarette smouldering in his fingers. He was talking to someone, leaning closer with a rather dopey grin on his face that suggested he was mildly wasted. In spite of the monochrome and the activity in the picture Ted could tell it was Randy there, leaning against the wall and giving Chris an amused look. That was stranger even than seeing Chris in them. And to Ted, it suggested something else – that Chris had known Randy _before_ he had been changed. That was… interesting.

A few pages later and a picture he remembered; one of those that were famous partly because of the shock value. In modern times it was only to be expected when everyone had a camera on the phone in their pocket but it had been a source of outrage Ted seemed to recall. One night Jericho had rammed his car into a telegraph pole and flown through the windshield, landing in a crumpled, dying heap on the road. A passer-by had run for a telephone booth while another had taken several pictures of the scene, one of which Ted was looking at now. He glanced at the text and skimmed through until he found what he half-remembered about it – there had been some loud noise nearby that had distracted the growing crowd of onlookers and in the couple of seconds confusion, the rock star had vanished. At first people had assumed he must have crawled off somewhere but that proved to be false because he wasn’t anywhere to be found and had never shown up again. There had been some talk of a hoax or a mistake but the photographic evidence said otherwise and Jericho had ended up alongside Elvis and Jim Morrison as rumoured to not be dead at all.

Ted allowed himself a chuckle, wondering what his dad would say about him being the first person to find out what really _had_ happened when Jericho’s body vanished from the accident scene. Or at least having a better idea than most.

He checked his watch and realised there was only about twenty minutes or so until night fell – there was no way of telling within the house other than using the clock. He should be getting back to Cody. But before he could think about doing so the door opened silently and Chris walked in, tilting his head to one side and giving Ted a quick smile. Ted started to smile back then remembered what he was reading and blushed instead, feeling like he’d been caught with the man’s diary.

“Your dinner’s gone cold,” Chris commented as he walked past the table to the tattered paperbacks that Ted had disregarded, glancing at the book on the table still open to the car wreck picture. “Gah, I hate that picture. My hair’s such a mess.”

“Um… to be fair Chris, the whole of you’s a mess on this.” Ted glanced into Chris’s face but the man seemed more amused than anything and he pressed on. “Did you heal up from all that overnight?”

Chris laughed, sounding a little as if he’d been surprised into it. “Hell no. I was human when I crashed. I _died_.”

“But – but there’s a picture of Randy with you!”

“I was living a wild life and knew some wild people.” Chris looked almost nostalgic. “I knew what Randy was but it wasn’t ‘til I had no chance at all of survival that he changed me. Nah, it wasn’t ‘til I became a vampire that I left the public eye.” He chuckled again. “Randy used to say that he could stay drunk for a week drinking my blood.”

Ted was confused (and a little shocked) by the thought. “So, you were like – what did Cody call it, a sheep?”

“I prefer to think of Randy as a groupie,” replied Chris haughtily and it was Ted’s turn to laugh. “I suppose it was similar but for me it was all about pushing boundaries. Flirting with danger. For Randy it was all about feeding, so it worked for both of us.”

“But he could feed more than once even though you weren’t mates?”

Chris nodded. “Not all vampires find their mates right away. For those you’ve met a sheep can be a way of uh, topping up I suppose. Something extra when it’s needed or when a mate can’t provide as much as needed, like I’ll have to drink from another source tonight. But you can’t starve just because you don’t have a mate and when I was turned Evan wasn’t even born. His parents were small children. And Randy had met John only once, as a human and never fed from him. If we could only take real nourishment from a mate from the start then we’d be in real trouble. That comes later on.”

“I see…”

“I’ve never known for two humans to be meant for one another before one was changed.” Chris kept his eyes on Ted. “For me, I met my mate when he was human but over the years there’s been a lot of romantic bullshit that we’re changed because our mates are out of time with us and we’re supposed to wait. It’s crap, but it’s the norm. I think you and Cody are the only ones I ever heard of where you fell in love as humans and then kept going when one of you changes. That’s a real gift and there’s been a real change in _Cody_ since you came here. Before he was striving, the memory of you was what kept him going. And now he’s actually living, for want of a better word.”

He turned his attention back to the bookshelf before Ted could reply. “Were you looking for something specific? I doubt you came in here just to find out about my life, riveting though it was and about how my corpse was stolen by aliens and put on a museum on Mars alongside Elvis. Allegedly.”

“Actually, yeah.” Ted felt a bit stupid for asking but Chris didn’t seem inclined to mock him. “I thought that since you all _are_ vampires, there might be something in here that’s a more accurate history or biology or something.”

“Too many questions and not enough answers?” Chris nodded. “Weirdly enough I came in for the same kinda thing for Evvie. He’ll be waking up soon and he’ll want some kind of background on what went on last night. We’ve got some stuff like that but I haven’t been through any of it for years and I’ve only got the faintest idea what they were discussing when John’s sire came up. I’d really rather Evvie didn’t do anything stressful when he wakes up and this should keep him occupied.”

“Why are you awake when he isn’t?” asked Ted. “I mean, I’m not being  rude I hope, but it’s not quite sunset I don’t think and Cody says he never wakes up ‘til full dark so how come you can be up and about?”

“Age,” replied Chris a little ruefully. “When you’re first turned you’re completely at the mercy of the sun. It’s up, you’re out and when it goes down you wake. After a few decades though, you’re a bit less regimented. As long as you don’t have contact with the sunlight, you can be awake a little longer. I still crash pretty much as soon as it’s dawn but I wake up thirty or forty minutes before sundown. I’m not sure if it’s some kind of survival trait, time to get ready to act or something. I think some of it’s individual too. Randy and John can both stay awake when the sun comes up although they’re pretty tired and sluggish when it is, but Randy never used to wake up ‘til it was dusk. That might have changed though, we might seem changeless but we’re really not. You’ll find that the same thing happens to Cody in time.”

Ted hesitated, that whole question of time passing for him and his fiancé in his head again, but Chris didn’t seem to notice. Instead he pulled a couple of books from the shelf and handed one to Ted. Ted looked at it a little doubtfully. He had expected something like an encyclopaedia or failing that something elderly and archaic. This seemed more like a self-published tome, old but not an antique.

“Christian got them on the internet a few years ago,” said Chris casually. “There’s older ones but he thinks these are the same thing and without so much oldie-worldie shit. I’ve never really looked but you and Evvie could probably compare notes while the rest of us take care of this problem we have.”

Ted looked at him sharply and Chris raised an eyebrow. “What? You thought you’d be allowed to get involved with this Dave character?”

“No,” replied Ted. “I just didn’t think that _Cody_ would be either. He’s only been turned two years!” 

Chris thought it was rather endearing that Ted had thought of Cody without even feeling slighted or relieved about being excluded but didn’t say. “More than likely Cody’s gonna be sitting right alongside you both. But I can’t promise that. It all depends on what we end up deciding.” He shrugged, holding the book as he headed for the door. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Randy’s really protective of his children, especially the younger ones. He’ll do all he can to keep Cody from harm. I want to be there when Evan wakes up and it’s…” He tilted his head a moment. “Less than ten minutes ‘til sundown. I’ll see you later tonight.”

“See you,” echoed Ted, looking at the book again as Chris left and then getting up from the chair. He glanced at his untouched meal and sighed, knowing he was going to be hungry later on and he should probably have some but he didn’t like the idea of Cody waking and finding him gone. He didn’t even take the plate to the kitchen, he didn’t want to run into Layla if she was still there and he could always sort it out later on. What was important was that Cody didn’t wake up without him – in the last two years Ted had experienced that enough and he wouldn’t wish it on his loved one. He took the book though and headed back up to his room, a little more certain of where he was headed this time. When he let himself in Cody was still sleeping and he paused a moment, smiling a little. He had put Cody into bed himself and the man had immediately curled onto his side just as he had always done and not moved since. He felt an overwhelming rush of love for the man and had to swallow past a lump in his throat, thanking the universe at large that he was able to see Cody again…

His smile faded. If that vampire who’d apparently come for John got his way, then there might be no miracle at all. Cody could be snatched from him all over again and he would be just as powerless against stopping it as he had been the first time. He had a sudden vivid memory, the _worst_ memory, of heading into the hospital in the middle of the night. He had never been so aware of the sounds, the absence of any real background noise making his footsteps and those of the policeman accompanying him that much louder, the sound of his heart beating in his ears almost over powering and his own thoughts yammering that it couldn’t be true, this couldn’t be real, it was all a mistake. Then they had reached their destination, a doctor in a white coat waiting for him. Everything in the room was too bright, the doctors jacket, the walls, the buzzing fluorescent light allowing for no shadows, no error. And then the sheet over the steel table had been pulled back and Ted had looked upon Cody’s face as his world crumbled into nothing at all. That could happen all over again.

He bowed his head a moment. There was no point in thinking of that night, Cody was _back_ with him and all he was doing was tormenting himself by remembering. Dave was only one and there was a whole group of them, expecting him. They’d be able to fix it and Cody probably wouldn’t even be involved.

He had missed Cody so _much…_

Ted pulled off his clothes absently, leaving on his boxers as he had done since he had started staying with Cody. He had thought that if Cody were back they would not be able to help themselves, he didn’t think there had been many days during their time together that they hadn’t made love, but Cody’s fear over his self-control meant that nothing at all had happened between them save for some kisses. That was different thanks to Cody’s fangs making an appearance every time but it certainly wasn’t unpleasant.

The book Chris had given him was illuminated by the lamp he had switched on to see what he was doing and for a moment he thought about reading it until Cody woke. Then he merely left it be. He wanted information but more than that he wanted to revel in Cody’s presence. Cody didn’t stir at first as Ted let his hand trace over his fiancés chest, as smooth and muscular as he remembered it being, but by the time he got as far as the abs Cody was starting to move a little and when Cody’s arm wrapped around Ted’s waist, he knew for sure that the sun had gone and he once more had his fiancés attention.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Cody’s lips, slow and relatively chaste but lingering. He felt Cody’s lips curling into a smile as he pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes, just as blue as he remembered them and without even a trace of tiredness. As curled up together as they were Ted felt as he always had in such moments, that nothing from the outside world could touch the cocoon that they formed together. But he had been wrong back then and he was terrified now that Cody could be snatched from him a second time.


	9. You're Racin' My Motor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tension mounts between Ted and Cody as the differences keeping them from fully reconnecting keep springing to the fore, and an intimate interlude for John and Randy takes an unwelcome turn.

“Not that I’m not complaining about waking up to this—“Cody murmured, lips curling into a fond smile on nostalgia, undoubtedly remembering some of the _other_ ways they had awoken one another before, “What’s the matter Teddy?” The blonde could have laughed ruefully; he didn’t know why he suddenly believed that Cody wouldn’t be able to read him as well as he once had just because they had been apart two years, but it seemed that he had been completely incorrect in that notion. Sighing gently he brushed their lips together again, then moving and pressing his face into Cody’s neck. A small sound left the vampire and he tensed just the smallest bit under him.

It took Ted a moment to wonder what he might have done wrong, but it clicked not seconds later: _he was close to Cody’s neck, and necks were like the ultimate zone for vampires weren’t they?_ Both curious to see whether it really _would_ do anything to Cody if he focused on that area, and also because he wanted any excuse to try and avoid having to talk about what he was feeling, Ted began to press gentle kisses to Cody’s neck. Sure, he had enjoyed such attention in the past but Ted knew that he had _never_ seemed to have to have held back as much as he did in that moment. His fingers gripped at the bed-sheets as opposed to Ted.

“ _Theodore—“_ this time Ted was the one who shuddered; he had always rather disliked the stereotypical haughtiness that was attached to his name and no one really used it except his parents. Even when his brothers teased him they generally called him ‘Ted’ or ‘Teddy’. Cody, however, was the first (and only) one to introduce him to a situation wherein he actually _craved_ hearing the sound of his full given name. Usually when Cody said his name that way that was a sign that things were going to progress to the stage that usually involved the necessity of locking the front door to prevent people just walking in and seeing something they shouldn’t.

In this instance though… there was still so much unease though, and he knew again that it stemmed from Cody’s concerns about their physical inequalities now. And also something else, something that had occurred to Ted now and again when he dared allow his mind to wander down that particular route: _what if their lovemaking had changed now?_ No, he should probably rephrase that because it was probably a given fact that their lovemaking would be different now. No only had neither of them had sex in the past two years, but there was a chance that they both just _believed_ that their love was still there to hang onto like before.

Though there was a part of Ted that was sure he _knew_ that he loved and wanted Cody as much as before there was another part of him that was terrified by the chance that the lovemaking between them may be awkward, or in some way bad, and that that would ruin everything. Ted had no idea what he could do with himself if that happened; he had been wasting away before Cody had come back to him, so living on without Cody, with the knowledge he was actually there and living –in a sense- was out of the question. He wondered if Cody felt the same; Cody had always been the one who seemed most content and open in his emotions between them both.

Gently pushing Ted backwards so that he could see his face, Cody gently stroked the apples of Ted’s cheeks with his thumbs. The blonde had had little choice but to essentially straddle Cody’s lap to maintain a comfortable position unless he wanted to be uncomfortable for goodness’ knows however long their talk might take. “What is it?” Cody prompted gently. Though he never liked pushing Ted if the other didn’t want to open up immediately Cody also wouldn’t relent and let the other stew on issues, trying to keep them bottled up within himself. Feeling the warm puff of breath on his neck as Ted sighed Cody fought the warm shiver he felt.

“Cody… do you intend to change me?” this time when Cody tensed it was completely expected and nothing to do with _those_ sorts of thoughts. Actually, _those_ thoughts were chased from his mind almost the second he heard the question. It shouldn’t have surprised him that Ted had thought of such a thing but at the same time he couldn’t get over the shock of it. “I—“he faltered, stammered, completely blindsided; whatever he had been expecting Ted to say that was clearly _now_ one of the things that he had considered. “Why would you ask that?” Cody asked softly, un-accusing and curious, and this time Ted was the one to tense up some.

Looking down at Cody’s exposed chest to avoid looking the man in the eye Ted then shrugged awkwardly. It wasn’t easy for him to admit that Layla got underneath his skin but he knew that he was going to have to fess up eventually. Mumbling slightly under his breath before he began speaking Ted then sighed and admitted about his verbal pseudo-altercation with Layla in the kitchen, and also the things she had said about being there, waiting, because she expected that Cody would change her and somehow keep her with him. Despite the fact that he had expected Cody to be angry with these assumptions he felt almost reassured when he growled deeply.

“I always knew she was trouble,” Cody scowled, and even pulling such an unattractive expression he was still gorgeous—it was almost unfair, “I always told Randy to get rid of her as soon as she started literally going around to _everyone_ and offering them her blood and sex.” Ted tensed at the final comment and Cody realised what he had said to him. Rubbing Ted’s leg gently in a soothing manner Cody murmured, “I think she’s only ever been fed off of all of three times. Some humans fall in thrall of our kind if we feed off of them, and usually their minds are wiped and they are banished from the house… but Layla,” he shrugged, clearly not knowing how to continue.

It wasn’t as though she was an especially good cleaner, and as Cody had stated she had always been just a bit _too_ willing to do _whatever_ one of their group needed (especially _him_ but he kept that thought to himself) making her a potential liability so there seemed little reason as to why Randy had been keeping her on. They didn’t even need sheep anyway now it seemed… He would have to congratulate Randy on his bonding later, and couldn’t believe that he had missed it before. To be fair though they had been rather preoccupied with something that could hardly be deemed as something that they could put off for later.

So, anyway, he was the last one left who might need a live food source… and he hadn’t touched a sheep. He’d only ever drunk Randy’s blood to count as ‘live’ food, but other than that he had eaten from the packs they got from hospitals and blood-banks. They could just keep the sheep who were maybe fed off of less, the ones who did jobs that were necessary, and they could sack the clingy ones… shaking those thoughts from his mind when he realised he had fallen into a silent tangent Cody then cupped Ted’s cheek and drew the blonde to look at him again. The way Ted startled just so when he touched him told Cody his mind had been elsewhere too.

“I wasn’t intending to turn you, no,” Cody admitted. It may have seemed like an obvious course of action, and there was very little he could complain about concerning his undead state but he still wouldn’t force such a change upon someone. Especially not Ted since he knew that the other was in _no semblance_ of shape to go through such an event. As of yet he hadn’t explained to Ted just _what_ it was like to go through a change--- and he had the feeling that if he did tell him that Ted would run from the house screaming. Even when a sire took care to make the change easier on the changling’s part it still _killed_ to go through.

It was the oddest combination of feelings he had ever felt; there was a part of Ted that was relieved that Cody had no intention of killing him or making him a meal but at the same time a greater part of him was almost _offended_ by the fact that Cody denied any intention whatsoever to give him immortality… or use him as lunch. No, not use, ‘take’ probably sounded less callous and uncaring. “Oh…” he started and then trailed off. He had no idea what to say to that and once again fell quiet. Cody bit on his lip; he hated when Ted got quiet and thoughtful because in most situations he thought or realised things Cody tended to make an effort to avoid.

“So,” Cody braced himself as Ted seemed to be gearing up to talk again, but then all he said was, “Do you think maybe you can come down to the kitchen with me? I kind of got distracted earlier and my omelette got ruined…” he had only been seeking some sort of excuse to try and get away from the topic he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about without making it really, really obvious (though it probably was) but almost immediately afterwards his stomach began rumbling; even if his brain was struggling to keep up with a regular eating schedule again it seemed as though his stomach had fallen right back into old habits, regular as clockwork again.

“Distracted?” Cody asked as he started to get out of bed, the mood from before diminished between them--- but he had no doubt that it would return again. The fact that he could almost _scent_ the arousal directed towards him from Ted on occasion did not help at all. “What by?” he asked, glancing to the bedside table when he saw that that was where the other’s gaze had gone. Moving across to the book Cody picked it up, his brows arching somewhat in apparent surprise as he read the front cover, “When did you find this in the library?” he asked, brow furrowing. Had Ted gotten it before and he’d just missed it? He was surprised he could find the library alone.

“When Chris came in and caught me looking through his autobiography,” Ted pointed out and Cody snorted slightly, smiling again for the first time since Ted had mentioned Layla and her comments, “Did you see the pictures of him with long hair and spandex? It’s hard to imagine that Chris turned into the one we have--- the one that looks like he belongs in some big corporate office bossing nervous underlings around.” Chuckling softly he then nodded, “I had a feeling that you would figure out who he was soon enough.” The fact that he had recognised Chris on some levels even from their first meeting had been an impressive feat.

“I just can’t believe it _is_ just him, or that he was being fed from Randy before he had to be…” and fuck, he’d just gone right back to the topic of feeding. He winced somewhat at his own big mouth before then pausing slightly as Cody chuckled, “You think it’s bad there? You want to see the pictures from when Christian first joined the clan--- he looked like a missing member of the group, the two men sporting long blonde locks… longer than even Adam’s prized ‘do.” He shook his head and snickered; he’d be lying if he said the spandex shots and suchlike didn’t amuse him even though he’d seen them a hundred times before.

“I just figured that getting in some _serious_ information studying wouldn’t hurt,” Ted murmured to Cody and Cody in turn smiled slightly when he realised how sheepish Ted was looking, almost as though he was expecting Cody to get mad at his inquisitiveness. And whilst this thought was stupid he also couldn’t help be wary; being a vampire wasn’t all sunshine and roses (no pun intended) and he was scared of what might happen to Ted mentally if he learned certain aspects of it, because for all he’d been accepting thus far it was a given that _something_ would happen that Ted just _wasn’t_ able to handle. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have a look,” Cody assured.

By this point Cody had thrown on some fresh clothes for the night (making Ted blush and squirm slightly when he came back into the room after an impossibly fast shower, dripping and towel-clad until he changed) and the pair soon made their way out of the room. Cody was determined that Ted would have something to eat, even if they ended up bringing the food back upstairs with them so Ted could resume his reading. It wasn’t as though Cody had any plans for the evening… and even if he had he would probably have begged off Ted about them; they all needed to be there as much as possible at present, alert, to protect their home and each other.

~::~

It was possibly the hardest phone-call John had _ever_ had to make… not counting the first time he had physically come into contact with a phone when they had first been created way back when. He swore that he wasn’t as technologically retarded as he had once seemed; he had managed to get used to using the internet and electric cookers rather quickly after all. At first it had seemed as though the number was no longer usable (and John had had _no idea_ what they would do if that happened concerning getting consent from Master ‘Taker to deal with Dave) but just when he was about to put the phone down someone answered.

Despite the fact that Randy knew that the sense of awareness, and the strange awe and respect that all children had for their sires deep down (even those that went rogue and renounced their sires and clans) was unavoidable and impossible to control, he still felt himself getting agitated and territorial when he felt the emotion from his mate even where he stood across the room. They had awoken some time before sunset and that was when Randy had decided they should attempt to contact John’s legendary sire; having his children out of commission would be their best course of action, Randy had decided.

“Master ‘Taker,” John spoke quietly as he heard the familiar deep and rumbling tone in his ear. Despite the fact that ‘Taker had always been undeniably terrifying there was something about the deep voice that was oddly soothing when he wasn’t actively attempting to be firm or intimidating. “It’s been a while,” he quirked a slight smile when he heard the deep, dry sound that came down the line--- ‘Taker didn’t laugh, and even small chuckles like that seemed to take a lot of effort from the older vampire. Randy moved closer to John so that he could hear, even though his advanced hearing meant that he could hear the conversation fine without doing so.

When John’s hand immediately sought his though Randy’s ruffled ego could be at ease once more, and he caressed what _would_ have been the spot of John’s wrist where his pulse would have been if he still had one. “Yes, it has been,” though really to them it had been very little time at all in the grand scheme of things. “How have you been, John?” something about the man’s tone told him that he _already knew_ what some of John’s answer was going to be. This was further supplemented by the, “My congratulations to you and your mate; bonding is a very special thing for our kind.” ‘Taker, believe it or not, had had a mate once, a long time ago.

Apparently though she had been murdered by hunters some months before he had come into the picture and he hadn’t taken anyone of significance in his life since; he sucked and fucked, basically, like most of their kind did. Unlike his brother though ‘Taker didn’t take unwilling participants; he was too old to keep up with the struggling and the shrieking just got annoying. And, yes, he was ignoring the fact that technically he could outlast any man of the young, virile age of 20. “Thank you,” John said, and had he been able to he would have blushed darkly--- it was almost like having a parent bring up your relationship to you suddenly…

… When you thought you were super sneaky and had been hiding it. “He’s… pretty damn amazing,” John smiled at Randy. This time Randy was the one to look embarrassed before he looked away, but John could see the smile playing on his lips anyway, could feel that he really didn’t mind the rather sentimental undercurrent of John’s words; it seemed silly now that he could have ever missed the adoration in the elder man’s tone. His smile slipped though when he heard ‘Taker say, “But I doubt that was what you were calling me to say.” He didn’t sound annoyed that John hadn’t been in touch before then but John felt internally awkward all the same.

“No,” John agreed, “It’s not… but I’m guessing you know what I’m gonna say huh?” silence came from the other end of the line before ‘Taker sighed, “Actually, it’s just come to my attention as well. Dave left the clan some time ago, but I didn’t realise he was still in close contact with Kane—“a reflexive shiver went through Randy; he wasn’t scared but he didn’t underestimate the things he had heard whispered of Kane’s exploits, “---and Kane has given him permission to encroach upon your life again.” Randy wanted to snort; that made it sound as though Dave was merely being some minor nuisance, not a potentially deadly threat.

Seeing the small look John sent him Randy raised his brows in what he hoped was an innocent expression. From the look on John’s face he hadn’t passed very well with it but he wasn’t surprised; even when he was human he couldn’t look innocent convincingly. Apparently ‘Taker had been talking whilst they were having their silent conversation, but it was only when the man said something about wanting to visit that John took stock of the fact. “Y-You want to visit?” he sputtered and gripped Randy’s hand tighter on reflex. Even Randy looked startled by that, not even bothering to mask his expression. ‘Taker sounded almost amused when he spoke again.

“I think it would only be appropriate,” ‘Taker said as though they were merely discussing the weather and not as though he was dropping a proverbial bombshell on the man, “After all, this is technically diplomatic clan business isn’t it? Yes, I am aware your mate has his own clan.” John massaged his temples; he supposed it was naïve of him to believe that ‘Taker wouldn’t know anything that had been going on in his life even though he had left the clan all that time back. “Um… Should I pass you over to him then?” he asked, feeling rather awkward, uncertain as to how he should address the matter. ‘Taker responded in the affirmative and handed the phone over.

And that was how, following a short and taciturn conversation between Randy and _his_ grandsire (it still boggled the mind that he came from the same line as _the_ Undertaker) the arrangements for ‘Taker visiting the manor to discuss the Dave situation occurred. “Why do we need him to come here?” Randy asked once the phone was back down and the call officially over, “I mean, I could have just said now and we could have had the decision done already!” John rubbed Randy’s back and looked mildly amused, “Rand… Master’ Taker said that he was planning on being here _tomorrow._ It’s not as if you’re going to have to wait long,” he attempted to pacify the other male.

Despite the fact that he still looked rather impatient Randy leant backwards into his mate’s large hands as they began to knead his t-shirt clad shoulders. A small growl of pleasure rumbled from up in his throat when John nuzzled the sensitive spot underneath his ear and tenderly licked the faintly scarred area that he usually fed from, not making an attempt to bite down or do more than that. He didn’t need to feed that night and so he wouldn’t impose himself on his mate. However they would all need to keep on top of their feeding to remain in peak condition. “Hey,” John said suddenly, getting a small flash of inspiration for a possible distraction.

“—do you wanna come and pick my car up with me?” for a moment Randy looked almost incredulous. Then, the man looked torn between amusement and incredulity, “Of _all_ the things you could have asked me to do for a date _that_ is what you come up with? Come _on,_ Cena! Some effort would be nice!” John stilled, concerned momentarily that he had somehow offended the other—and then he realised that Randy was shaking with silent laughter. “Cheeky bitch,” John muttered, swiping half-heartedly for Randy’s backside, “I should put you across my knee for that.” Randy smirked, leaning against the door, “Bring it on lover.”

“You’ll get yours,” John warned, “So, you’re coming?” Randy went to make an innuendo in retort but John was at his side in mere moments and placing a hand over his mouth. “Behave,” he chided and Randy rolled his eyes and then arched a brow, but his eyes glimmered with amusement. Despite the fact that their banter was as light as it had ever been since they had stopped fighting with one another John could see the darkness lingering in Randy’s gaze; no matter what he did it was apparent that Dave was going to be on his mate’s mind as a lingering afterthought at least. “Don’t you need to tell—?” John started even as Randy was heading swiftly towards the side sitting room.

Adam was sitting there, a magazine in hand. The man arched a brow and Randy said, “John and I are going to pick his car up. Tell Cody that we’re borrowing his car,” he would have used Chris’ (his own precious Bentley was out of commission due to a botched smash-and-swipe a few weeks back; he’d need to pick that up soon actually) since that was the kind he preferred to drive, but obviously that was _totalled_ because of what had happened last night. Adam nodded, snickering as he waved them off; everyone knew that Hunter and Shawn had banned Randy or John from borrowing the Porsche after Hunter had discovered that they had ‘had sexy time’ in it.

_The only reason he was pissed though was because even he couldn’t convince Shawn to have sexy time in the car._

“No Porsche?” John made a showing of looking highly disappointed and Randy’s teeth flashed briefly as he smirked, “No, sadly.” He picked Cody’s keys neatly from the row of them hanging by the side of the hall, knowing the younger man wouldn’t mind if they borrowed it. Someone might question why they didn’t just run there or something (no, they did _not_ turn into bats, thanks, so they therefore couldn’t fly there) but it just wasn’t practical to do that… Besides, the depot where Randy knew John liked to take his cars for maintenance and suchlike was _really_ out of the way of the town limits; normal people wouldn’t be able to walk it comfortably.

Once they were inside of the car they set off, locking the garage up behind them. Neither bothered with seatbelts; it was really more habit when they put them on because if they got stopped by a human copper then they would get into bother over it, and the aggro just wasn’t worth it, and because it wasn’t as though a trip through the windshield would do them any damage. Hell, they had all watched Adam _eat_ a glass before, and the worst thing that had happened to him was that he was sick. The drive took very little time… but they didn’t exactly adhere to the same limits as humans did once they were clear of any potential obstructions or other drivers.

John’s muscle-car was out ready and waiting when they arrived—showing that John was expected. Considering that he probably provided this place with constant, well-paid work though Randy wasn’t surprised that they seemed to go the extra mile for him. “My baby!” John cooed, hastening (human speed haste) to the vehicle and caressing the highly polished bumper. Randy almost felt jealous of the damn thing for a moment, but then he smirked and walked up to John, lowering his voice as he murmured, “Should I leave you two alone for a while?” John elbowed him and Randy just managed to avoid the contact, laughing quietly under his breath.

As always John paid in cash, and Randy meandered back towards Cody’s car as John had a last minute chat and run-down with the mechanic about this and that or whatever… sure, Randy liked cars, but past the fact that they looked awesome and could go fast he didn’t give a shit about the minor details. John approached him a moment after, tucking some paper into his pocket (notes for the car Randy was sure, he was very _pedantic_ about his cars and anything that involved them even vaguely) as he did. “So, you want to head home now then?” Randy asked, and for a moment John looked shy, glancing down at the ground and clearing his throat.

“Actually, um, I was thinking maybe we could take the cars out to The Point and christen our returning baby…” John said, and Randy lost his comment about John liking cars a bit _too much_ when the implication of John’s round-about words registered with him. A glimmer of mischief appeared in his eyes, “Yeah… let’s go. It’s been a while since we had the chance to christen a car.” They may not be teenagers lacking places without parents keeping watchful eyes on any misbehaviour that might occur, but that didn’t mean that they could no longer appreciate the backdrop of fucking in a designer vehicle. “Think a policeman’ll come and knock on the window again?” Randy smirked.

~:~

“They’d better not after last time,” replied John firmly; it wasn’t as if they had many problems with police that they couldn’t handle and so hadn’t been too concerned when there had been the knock on the car window, more put out about being stopped than anything. Randy had been atop John at the time and wound down the window, looking the cop directly in the eyes. Almost all vampires had the ability to enthral humans, suggesting things to them and having them obey without even thinking about it, but as with all of their gifts some of them were better at it than others and Randy just happened to be the best at suggestibility that John had ever seen. John had barely paused as Randy started talking to the cop – although he had stopped in a _hurry_ when Randy had told the cop to stand at the window and watch. Randy had said that there was no harm being done by having an audience that wouldn’t remember a thing later on and hadn’t John ever felt like being an exhibitionist? John replied by saying making him leave was one thing, potentially scarring his psyche was a whole ‘nother issue. They’d argued it out for a while as the cop stood at the window merely observing as they did but John had gotten his way over that one, the cop been made to leave.

Randy shook his head, faking sadness. “Oh Johnny, you’re no fun—“

“If I’m no fun, perhaps we should just go right on back to the manor.”

“I take it back. You’re a ton of fun, especially when we’re trying to squeeze your big ass and my monster cock in the backseat of the car.”

John started to laugh. “Monster cock? One day we’ll have to get you a job on some cheesy phone sex line.”

“How do you think I can afford the manor?” Randy wiggled his eyebrows and whirled Cody’s car keys around his finger as he headed to it, John chuckling as he got into his own vehicle. Randy drove out first, John following as they made their way to the spot they had christened The Point. The area they lived in was quiet and sparsely populated just the way that Randy liked it and there were plenty of out of the way places, but none so private as their own personal spot – although they _did_ see evidence that they weren’t the only people to use it for that purpose, their being awake through the night meant that they had not yet been interrupted by another couple making use of the area for the same reason. Only the policeman that one time and John had often wondered if they had been making a crackdown at the time, as occasionally happened.

The Point was at the end of a narrow trail that Randy was occasionally surprised that John allowed his precious cars to go down. There was a natural hill there that was steep enough that there was really only one way to approach the spot and that was the way that had driven in. There was room for both cars to park up but a third car might have encountered a problem unless they wanted a really good view of what was going on within and both men were sure that sight might just kill the moods of a couple of horny teenagers.

It was very tempting to just get down and dirty in Cody’s car, knowing that he would be driven crazy by the ghost of the scent for a long time – there was always an odd undercurrent of sexual attraction between sire and child that could get uneasy if it was allowed to, some extension from adults suddenly finding themselves in positions of power or protection. It always lessened over time and also should either sire or child have a mate in the picture, but even so Randy didn’t want to tease Cody in that way. He knew damned well that Cody hadn’t resurrected his physical relationship with Ted as yet and the signs that others were intimate could push things before they were ready. He was a little worried about that side when it came to the pair; they were clearly still crazy in love with one another but it was a lot to take on board for anyone and he respected that Cody didn’t want to push Ted faster than advisable. However, Randy was inclined to believe that Ted was adapting faster than any of them had foreseen and he knew that if he’d had to be around John without tearing his clothes off at the earliest opportunity he might just have gone completely insane with lust.

He locked Cody’s car out of instinct, he certainly didn’t want to chase some opportunistic thief while naked and irate. John’s car was always going to be better for what he had in mind anyway, the back seat was a lot larger and they were both big men, it was never going to be comfortable but that was part of the excitement. He tapped on the driver’s side window lightly and John opened the door, looking out at him with a smirk.

“I’m out here looking for a spot of casual sex,” teased Randy.

John got out of the car, opening the back door and making an exaggerated motion for Randy to get inside. “Then step into my office. I think I can help you out.”

Randy slid into the back seat, chuckling to himself – there was nothing like some cheesy banter to make him feel like all was right between them – and John got in after him, slamming the door closed. His hand went to Randy’s thigh, feeling the solid muscle beneath the denim. “You seemed kinda introspective there for a moment.”

Randy almost asked how John had been able to see that when they were in different cars and then didn’t; he would know it through the strengthened bond they had now, the way he could feel John’s curiosity barely overlaying dark lust. “I was thinking about Cody and Ted. Except that led me on to thinking about us again.”

John’s hand trailed further up Randy’s thigh but he still looked interested. “Yeah?”

“The first time we got it on,” expanded Randy, almost laughing at the choice of words. “You might remember it?”

“Hmmm, it’s hazy.”

“Dark alley, about three in the morning?” Randy felt his body react to John’s touch and his arm went around the man’s shoulders, leaning in so that he was all but murmuring in his mates ear. “I went out looking for you, I could _feel_ you somewhere close to me. And then I saw you and you slipped into that alley so I followed, grabbed you, said something…”

_“You drained all my blood and threw me aside to die,”_ John quoted and although remembering the words and how _angry_ Randy had been was not pleasant, the nearness of the man had aroused something other than shame and fear in him, those stormy blue eyes fixed on his telling him that Randy felt it too and he was pissed about it. _“Perhaps I should return the favour.”_

Randy paused, a little surprised. “Was that it? I kinda forget that I was mad at you.” He chuckled, nipping on John’s ear a moment. “And then you told me to do whatever made me feel better—“

“You bit me. You asshole, you weren’t even gentle about it.”

“You didn’t seem to mind. You grabbed my ass like the fucking world was coming to an end and practically humped me to climax through my jeans.”

John blushed bright red. “It wasn’t like that!”

Nor had it been exactly, it had been more complicated, more angry than that, but Randy wasn’t about to let facts get in the way of a damned good memory. “That’s how I recall it. Though it got better once I got your clothes off.”

“It usually does – so why the hell are you still dressed?”

Randy laughed, resting a hand on John’s cheek and almost forcing his face around so that they could kiss, the problem with their fangs being known not an issue for them after many years of learning to control the reflex. John kissed him back just as hard, a minor power struggle going on between them before Randy acquiesced, allowing John to push him until he was lying on his back, one leg bent to fit to the seat, the other foot on the floor, John nestled between them. Smirking, John pulled Randy’s shirt off over his head with a little difficulty in the confines and threw the item into the front seat. His head leaned forward, lips fastening around Randy’s nipple and sucking. Randy groaned, hands burying themselves into John’s hair as the other nipped lightly, tugging the bud and then lapping at the minute marks left behind. He could feel Randy stiffening against him, he had found out quickly that his lover adored having any attention paid to his nipples and was the reason John did so at every opportunity.

John turned his attention to the other nipple, hands going to Randy’s zipper and taking care of it as he did so. Beneath him Randy continued to vocalise his appreciation – Randy had always been loud, with varying levels of coherence, when they were like this together. There was a noise of minor displeasure when John leaned back up, one that was soon overridden by a slight mew that Randy would forever swear he would never make as John freed his cock from the confines of his pants.

“I don’t know if it qualifies as a monster…”

“You’re never gonna let me forget I said that, are you?”

“Nope. Randy, why the hell do you have to wear jeans in this situation?”

“I had no idea you’d take me to some roadside to seduce me,” replied Randy, the almost prim tone belied by the grin on his face and the lust in his eyes. “Otherwise I would have dressed for the occasion.”

“I’ll just have to work around it,” said John, managing somehow to skilfully remove the rest of Randy’s clothing and feeling himself stirring more urgently at the sight of his lover lying naked in his backseat. Randy was a perfect physical specimen and seeing him against the leather roused John’s urgency. He had bonded with Randy because he was in love with him and the events of the night before had only served to remind him how much he wanted to keep this new life he had. That Randy had been able to accept all that he had been told without finding fault in John or being infuriated to have been kept in the dark for so long made him realise just how strong and genuine the others feelings towards _him_ were. Being bonded meant a heightened understanding of one another but there hadn’t been even a flicker of negativity directed at John.

Randy raised his eyebrows, looking completely at ease although there was real desire and just a hint of impatience apparent through the bond they shared. “Are you just gonna look at me all night?”

“I might just.” John grinned, the action showing his teeth starting to elongate. But he had no intention of waiting all night at all, judging by how tight his boxers felt he was going to struggle waiting another few minutes. There were a few moments of confusion as John managed to get his own clothes off (and he was sure that Randy was laughing at him as he tried to manoeuvre in the small space) and then they were both naked, John putting his fingers in his mouth and smirking around them as he saw Randy’s attention completely riveted to the sight. The younger wasn’t smiling anymore, his lips were slightly parted as if to breathe and there was just a slight glimpse of fangs within. John made damned sure that he coated his fingers thoroughly before taking them from his mouth; it would probably be quick and would certainly be awkward as hell but there was no reason that it should be uncomfortable for the wrong reasons. Randy shifted his hips slightly to grant John better access and John pressed a single finger into Randy’s tight hole, rapidly followed by a second. He hadn’t realised just how being bonded would affect moments like this – he had been too far gone when they had initiated the oath but he was now beginning to get it. Randy’s own impatience and excitement was affecting him as well and he made a mental note to test that out to its limits when they were in more of a position to do so. When they had a whole night with nothing more to do than spend the time languidly exploring his lovers body then he was going to use that bond to send Randy to heaven and back over and over again. But for the moment, they didn’t really have either the time or the space.

He added a third finger and angled straight toward Randy’s prostate, making him growl and arch up, eyes closing momentarily. Fuck, but Randy was like some obscene porn film and John often thought that he could get off watching Randy get off, no touch required. Thankfully it was something he’d never had to test. He stroked against Randy’s prostate again and the action sent a bolt of desperate need straight through Randy and through their bond to John. If he’d needed to breathe then he would have had the air stolen from him in that moment; he lost all sense of teasing or waiting and withdrew his fingers immediately, some distant voice in the back of his mind hoping that Randy was adequately prepared because he didn’t think he could wait any longer.

Biting on his lip to try to gain control of himself, drawing blood, John positioned himself at Randy’s entrance. Randy’s hands went to his shoulders, legs wrapping around his waist, urging him on and John paused for a barely noticeable beat before plunging himself balls-deep into the younger man. This time they both moaned, the sound very loud in the confines of the car. Trying to adjust his position, John planted a foot on the floor of the car and surged forward, finding it sweetly frustrating that he wasn’t able to find the angle he was searching for right away. Randy murmured something barely coherent, looking up into John’s face and scoring red marks over John’s shoulders with short nails. Hissing slightly, John started a pace that was almost slow as they both sought how they could take best advantage of the position. For the first time he needed no reassurances from Randy that it was good for him too, he could _feel_ it from the others behalf…

In response to some unspoken plea from Randy he moved slightly and drove himself forward harder. The response was immediate and arrived to him on two levels, the bolt of pleasure through their bond and the cry from Randy only a split second later. John’s own moans joined his lovers as he sensed the words without words—

— _There_ —

And he allowed Randy’s senses to guide him, thrusting against his lovers prostate in a fast rhythm that had the car rocking slightly with their movements. Both men were warmer than their usual temperature although not enough to cause the windows to steam over. Randy let his head fall back, exposing his throat to John in the ultimate expression of trust and submission for their kind, hand sliding sensuously over his abs to wrap around his cock. John let out a helpless moan as Randy tightened around him, gripping him firmly and moving in perfect time to one another. The exposure and the illicitness of the location all added to the act and John knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold on as long as he might otherwise have done –and he _also_ realised that he wasn’t going to have to fight against his release until he knew Randy was on the edge. He could feel his lover’s tension ready to break, even if he hadn’t recognised the signs that Randy always gave. Instinct took over completely; he gave himself over to it and allowed his body and their bond to act in complete tandem. It seemed like only moments passed before they climaxed simultaneously, John crying out as loudly as he was able as his seed filled his lover, hearing Randy’s moans of his name as he coated them both with his release.

John half-collapsed on Randy, feeling as if he should be breathing heavily. As it was he did inhale, realising that he had about three seconds to move before he started to suffer from the cramped conditions. He shifted himself, grinning at Randy as the other shot him a wink and disentangled his legs. There was another complicated moment as they managed to free themselves of one another and sit up. John gave the seats a rueful look. “I suppose I’ll be cleaning out the car tomorrow.”

He had rather thought that Randy would have some comeback to that one but for once Randy didn’t seem about to be a smart arse and John could understand, he could feel Randy’s sense of wonder through their bond and he was feeling it in his own right even without his lover’s input into his emotions.

“That was—“ Randy met John’s eyes and gave an almost shy smile. “Did you feel that?”

John needed no clarification as to _that_ , they had made love a thousand times and it wasn’t their first time in the car but it _was_ the first time since they had established their bond and it had been a whole different experience. They had always been good together, in sync physically, but the bond had added a new layer to their understanding. He nodded slowly. “I knew _everything_. What you needed, how you were feeling…”

“Me too.” Randy glanced away a moment. “You ever feel that before?”

John put a hand to Randy’s cheek, coaxing the other into looking at him. “Never,” he said seriously – it was rare for Randy to want any kind of reassurance but it happened and the new level had no doubt awoken that need in him, or at least the ability to express it. “It’s because of the bonding – and I could only ever bond with you.”

Randy gave a little smile that seemed almost tired and another time John might have been tempted to tease. As it was, he merely pulled Randy into an embrace and the two of them stayed that way for a while, Randy’s head against John’s chest and John’s cheek on Randy’s head.

They might have remained that way longer but after a while unease started to trickle through John. He started to think about the night before, how they had probably been foolish to be out here doing this when Dave was on the prowl in the area. He had needed it, needed to show Randy that he loved him and was grateful for the understanding, had wanted to show that Dave had no hold over his life he supposed. But Dave still did as long as he was trying to put a hurt on John and although the clan was safe in the manor (he hoped, he didn’t think the younger ones would leave but he wasn’t at all sure he’d put it past Hunter or Shawn to go hunting for him), they were rather exposed. That feeling he’d had the night before they had bonded had returned, the feeling that there was some danger lurking nearby and that he had brought it upon them.

Randy had caught his unease it seemed because he raised his head and although there was concern in his eyes, he tipped John a wink. “You wanna get back? Before someone sends out a search party?”

“We’ve got phones if they need us,” said John, trying to be blasé in spite of his forebodings – it had taken him a long time but he was used to the clever little devices. Out of all the clan, the only ones who refused to use the phones for anything save emergencies were Hunter, Adam and surprisingly Cody, who should have been the one most at home with such things.

“We should get back regardless,” returned Randy, managing to pull on his jeans and waiting for John to follow suit before opening the back door, swinging his legs out and putting on his shoes while John did the same in the extra space within. “I should be making sure everything’s going okay,” he said, looking over his shoulder as he spoke. “Things with Cody and Ted are—“

And then he was gone.

John didn’t even pause, throwing himself out of the car on his own side and racing to the other side. It took him a moment to see what was happening in the shadows but he knew where to look for his lover without even having to consider it and when he saw what was happening, it was no stretch to work out the rest. As Randy had been talking, Dave had emerged from some hiding place and ran over faster than either of them had seen, grabbing Randy as he did and spiriting him some distance from John. It would take only a second for him to be at Randy’s side, but apparently Dave had hoped the surprise would give him valuable time.

It hadn’t quite worked like that. Randy had been on his guard even though he hadn’t seen Dave’s approach and Dave hadn’t gotten him far at all. As John’s eyes adjusted he saw Randy dig his heels into the ground, the action deadening their momentum. He used the sudden stop combined with the forward motion to swing at Dave, a fist catching the behemoth directly in the face. There was a sudden surge of fury and John knew it hadn’t originated with him; Randy had just lost his grip on his temper and against someone like Dave, and that would cost him. Dave could snap in a second but in situations such as these he seemed to keep a cold, sadistic calm.

Dave staggered back in the wake of the punch, recovered within a second and lunged for Randy. Randy held his ground, snarling as Dave tried to take him over. But Dave was as tall as Randy and outweighed him, the best that Randy could do was to shift as they fell so that he landed on top. He delivered another blow that would have caved in the skull of a normal human, followed quickly by another, the snarls coming from him sounding almost animalistic.

For a second John dared to hope that Randy had Dave’s number and then Dave grabbed Randy by the biceps and _shoved_. Randy flew through the air, the only thing saving him from going off the edge of the hill being a tree that cracked loudly as his full weight smashed against it. Before Dave could move in to attack again John barrelled into him, fangs bared out of pure instinct. His mate had been harmed and he didn’t even have to think about his next move, he merely acted. Dave hit the ground and rolled, rising to a crouch and staring back at John.  

Unbelievably, he smiled. “Johnny, that’s no way to behave.”

“You’ve no business here Dave, so why don’t you crawl away from here and leave me be?” John forced himself to remain calm in spite of Randy’s rage boiling through his veins. “What the hell are you hoping to achieve here? Why not just forget about it and leave me to get on with things? You can go about whatever fucking depraved things you want without me getting in the way.”

“You were never in the way…” Dave smirked. “You remember the first time I took you out to feed? The look on your face when I ripped off that girls arm… it just made the blood taste better. _Everything_ tastes better with you John.” The lewd intent was evident and John shuddered slightly, refusing to let memories overtake him this time. From behind him there was a snarl and Dave turned his attention to Randy without a qualm, straightening up and brushing almost daintily at his clothes.

“Your boy screams like a bitch Johnny,” he said with something close to real cheer. “Did you ever tell him how often I made you scream like that? How many years you were my bitch and you screamed for _me…_ ”

There was no warning but John had known it was coming; Randy flew at Dave with murder in his heart. There was no time to even open his mouth to warn against it and it was obvious that Dave had been expecting it as well. As Randy went for him too fast for human eyes to see, Dave took a step to one side, grabbed Randy’s arm as he tried to correct himself and wrenched it up his back. John couldn’t help the cry that escaped him, his mate injured and the tell-tale pain shooting through his own shoulder. He himself had no injuries but the pain he felt second-hand told him that Randy’s shoulder was dislocated at least. He just had to hope it was nothing worse – and there wasn’t time to be concerned over it. Dave shoved against Randy’s arm in a swift movement, knocking the other to the floor and John was at his side before Randy could get up again. And Randy _would_ get up again. Harming Randy just seemed to invite him to fight back harder. His arms went around the other, but his eyes never left Dave.

Dave however seemed disinclined to make another move, merely staring John down for long moments before turning his attention to Randy. “You took what’s mine,” he said, no trace of false joviality remaining in his tone. “I take him back. Or else your children will suffer a hundred times more than you have tonight. I’ll make it slow, I’ll make it hurt and I’ll make it last. I’ll take your pet and make him my child, enslave him to only me. And then I’ll come for _you_ and make you beg me to let the sun take you. Give me back what’s mine.”

Randy growled. _“Go to hell.”_

Dave inclined his head as if he had been expecting this. “You’ll change your mind,” he said. _“You can’t stop me._ Think it over and I’ll come back for John—“ He smiled. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

He moved and John tensed, ready to protect his mate no matter how much he had been indoctrinated to bend before this monster – but Dave merely leapt over the side of the hill. For a moment John found himself hoping that Dave would break both his ankles on the fall but he knew that wouldn’t happen, and if he tried to give chase he would have no chance… unless Dave wanted to be found. And in that case it wasn’t likely to turn out well for him.

And his mate had been injured.

His attention went back to Randy. “Get in the car, we’ve gotta get you back to the manor—“

Randy continued to growl in the back of his throat and John realised that between fury and pain, Randy wasn’t listening to him. “Randy! Baby, listen to me!”

Randy glanced at him but John wasn’t at all sure he was getting through – Randy had never been mister reasonable even when he was alive and with his vampire instincts to contend with he wasn’t likely to want to just go home and lick his wounds. It was a matter of pride and John had to appeal to something else to get the man to do what was right. 

“We’ve lost him,” he said, trying to be calm but allowing some of his urgency to shine through. “And he threatened the clan. We need to get back.”

With clear effort, Randy got himself under control and nodded. “Cody’s car—“

“To hell with Cody’s car! Ted can come and get it when the sun rises—“

“Ted doesn’t leave the manor,” said Randy and it was clearly an order; the threats Dave had made had clearly gotten through to him. Perhaps it was just as well because Randy seemed to be thinking with his brain rather than his need to maim. “I’ll take the car back. I can do it with one hand.”

“I don’t know if that’s wise.”

“I’m not leaving it here.” Randy headed back toward the car, brow furrowed. “I want you to call the manor and _keep_ them on the phone ‘til we get back. You hear something strange, flash the lights at me.”

“You can’t drive when—“

“It’s an automatic and it’s healing already.” There was clearly going to be no argument and John couldn’t help wondering if there was some pride involved there too; Randy probably didn’t want to admit to being injured enough to have to be taken home, not to his clan when he had a duty to protect them. John felt a moments guilt and resolutely pushed it away. It was not the time. When they were back at the manor, when they were safe, _then_ he could feel guilt.

And maybe this latest episode would persuade his own sire that they had to act, _now_.


	10. Meeting A Myth (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clan rallies together in the face of the recurring threat Dave poses before then preparing to meet the living legend 'Master 'Taker' to try and settle the matter for good.

When a phone began to ring off to the side of their pool table (yeah, they had a typical man’s rec-room in the house alongside the game room that Ted had been introduced to that evening by Cody--- he had never seen so many games consoles in one place before, and some were so vintage he’d _never_ seen them before at all) Adam was the one who growlingly demanded that whoever owned the phone better answer it before he shoved it up their ass… He was just in a bad mood because he was losing to Shawn at their latest game. Chris and Evan were watching. Or, Chris was watching Evan as he watched them. He’d barely let his mate go all evening long. Evan didn’t seem to mind though and Ted didn’t blame him for being somewhat clingy towards the other.

Cody reached into his pocket curiously, looking at the phone. When he saw that John’s number was on screen his eyes widened and he answered; he could count the number of times John had ever called him on… one finger. “John?” he asked and everyone in the room (even Ted, who was sitting beside him and currently holding his free hand) stilled and turned to look at him. Had he been human he would probably have been squirming underneath the attention, but as it was he was focused on the voice on the other end of the line. The tone of John’s voice, panic laced with fury, topped even that which he had used last night and Cody had a bad feeling.

“We just got attacked,” John spoke into the phone, watching the car in front of him carefully. Though Randy was going slower than he normally would, and John knew that he was having little choice but to do so considering his arm being out of commission. “Dave. He’s… I don’t know if it’s broken but he did something to Randy’s arm as they fought—“Ted shivered at the automatic growls that left every man in the room bar himself, the sheer sound of the predator resonating inside of him. “We’re on our way back now but we don’t know where Dave’s gone. All of you need to stay together just in case, but _do not_ engage him if you can avoid it OK?” he said firmly.

Since he wasn’t their sire he didn’t have the unfailing ability to suggest that they should obey him, but as their grandsire he was able to implement the same sort of suggestion in lieu of something more concrete. Several sounds of displeasure and protest sounded, and Cody reluctantly released Ted’s hand to press a finger into his ear to try and deaden the sound somewhat so he could hear what John was saying next. What he heard had the loudest, angriest growl yet sounding, and he almost crushed his phone in his hand before he caught himself and stopped. “Watch Ted,” John had warned, “Because Dave’s going to try and take him first. Easy target.”

It wasn’t an insult, it was just a statement of fact where they were concerned: even though Evan was still technically what one could consider injured, he would still be able to put up more of a fight and generally _survive_ more of what Dave could do to him than Ted could. If Dave so much as _flicked_ Ted it could shatter a bone, or rip through cartilage. “Stay on the phone with me,” John added, speaking over Cody’s growl –he could bet that if Ted hadn’t been near Cody before the younger vampire probably had the man on his lap right then- “Randy said you need to tell us the second something happens. We’re about ten minutes away now.”

Almost in one movement the vampires in the room were on their feet and surging outward. Ted recognised the look on Cody’s face (it was one he had always had when he tried to reason with Ted when he knew that Ted wasn’t going to like what the reason he was going to give) and scowled, shaking his head sharply, firmly; he refused to be shut up somewhere, not knowing what was happening. He didn’t care about the fact that this would make him more vulnerable, and if Cody attempted to override his whims by physically placing him inside of a room out of the way or whatever then Ted was _never_ going to forgive him for it.

Seeing the determination in the blonde’s face Cody silently sighed and nodded, wrapping an arm around Ted’s waist and drawing him protectively against his side as he lead him to follow into the front of the house where they uncovered the living-room windows so that they could look out. They’d need to remember to put them back again afterwards, Cody thought absently, shoving it aside for a later date. For the longest time it seemed as though nothing at all was going to happen and Cody would have thought that this was maybe a wind-up if they hadn’t already been confronted with Dave before. Christian was the one who suddenly raised a call of alarm though.

There, on the grounds, was the vampire. Evan was pushed backwards behind Chris who hissed and snarled, glaring through the window at the man who was approaching them at a walk—but even that speed was too much for Ted’s human eyes to keep track of… the fact that he was being forced before he could even blink to look at the back of Cody’s head as the younger shoved him behind him probably didn’t aid in that cause either. The vampires were ready, waiting, all dropping into expectant fighting stances. They weren’t going to invite him in, sure, and because of John’s comments they couldn’t just rush out there and get him, though they _wanted to_.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, John reluctantly flashed his headlights at Randy in front of him, letting him know that something was going down back at the manor. Randy ground his teeth together so hard his jaw ached, a muscle ticking in his cheek. The rage was bubbling below the surface and he knew that the second he got the chance he was going to tear that Dave bastard limb from limb, set him on fire, and _then_ he was going to leave him to the sun as a bit of added insurance. His arm was already beginning to heal a little bit it wasn’t going to be able to do more until Christian set it. He was sincerely hoping it was just a dislocation.

 _A break wouldn’t heal until the following night even if he had would have had the chance to feed from John to aid the process immediately, and he needed to be in as good a condition as he could in order to protect his clan._ Putting his foot down on the gas a little harder Randy mentally noted that any cop who attempted to stop him now was going to get a _nasty_ _surprise_ indeed. They were about five minutes away from the manor by this point and each second that passed seemed to take even longer, expectation curling and tossing in his stomach; at least John knew _exactly_ what was going on, he only knew that _something_ was going on.

“He’s stopped,” Cody reported, the shock clear in his tone as he saw the older vampire outside doing just that, looking like a living statue almost because he was much too still to be considered human. It would be stupid to think that this meant something but none of them had a clue: they didn’t know the man the way John did. “Why has he stopped? John—“he started, hearing the older vampire curse as he swerved sharply to avoid some idiotic little yobbos on their bikes that came shooting out of nowhere, “Don’t fall for it. He’s trying to get you to relax. Tell everyone to keep their guards up. We’re nearly there, OK? We’re nearly there.”

Reiterating John’s message to everyone Cody shifted and adjusted his stance before Ted, attempting to shield the blonde with his body. The cry of shock came from Shawn this time as, because just as suddenly as he had stopped Dave was suddenly moving again, and with the same ‘sticking’ ability (that was the only way to explain the way they could just cling to and climb up buildings without support ropes or other aides etc.) that they all possessed he attached himself to the large front windows like some obscene bug. His dark eyes shone with manic glee as he looked at them all, but when his eyes finally lighted on Ted the expression turned deviant.

It occurred to Ted then, in the back of his mind that were _he_ a vampire too then he could be so much more of an _asset_ to Cody as opposed to a liability. A hand gently touched his back and Ted startled, head whipping around to face the person who had touched him. It was Evan, and his face was a mask of seriousness. He didn’t look at Ted though and Ted supposed that the touch had been subconscious on the other’s part to offer him reassurance possibly. Chris stood just behind Evan, no doubt intending to protect him as well as Ted, and it was then that Ted realised everyone had cocooned around him in an undeniable gesture of protection.

Dave’s smile seemed to grow upon seeing it and Ted suddenly wondered whether this would just be painting a bigger target on his back… though why the vampire was suddenly focusing on him he had absolutely _no idea_. With a sharp movement that had Ted feeling a phantom pain in his own neck Dave suddenly looked at something off to the side and leapt off of the window. The group, bar Evan, surged forward and Ted startled again as Evan’s hands rested on his shoulders. He didn’t say anything but the unspoken point to remain back was loud and clear. Despite knowing the logicality of this decision everything in Ted screamed to be there to help Cody should he need him.

But, in the end, it turned out that his worries had been there for nothing; everyone returned moments later, Randy and John alongside them. It was probably a bad idea to leave the cars out in the open when Dave was slinking about but they hadn’t the time to mess around putting them away--- and if anyone had doubted how much Dave could get to John the fact that he had left his prized car as a potential target spoke volumes. “What happened?” Randy demanded, ignoring the looks that were being sent to his arm; it was still bent at an odd angle and was sure that it probably looked downright obscene that the appendage was pointing in the wrong direction.

Immediately Christian began to direct Randy towards the kitchen so that he could tend to his arm. From the looks on the faces of the other members of the clan Ted had the feeling that they all wanted to be with their sire, but right then they had to make sure that that man wasn’t outside. They were soon splitting up and shooting out of sight, undoubtedly going to other parts of the house. However, when they returned they reported that they couldn’t see hide-nor-hair of him, and John also acknowledged that he couldn’t feel the man in the vicinity either. It wasn’t the same way he could _feel_ Randy, but it was an unfailing radar concerning the man.

Everyone remained congregated in the living-room after that whilst Randy, John and Christian were in the kitchen. Ted had something he wanted to ask, however, and whilst Cody was occupied talking to Hunter and Chris he slipped into the kitchen. It was probably something of a technical error on his part though because the second he entered the kitchen Christian was snapping Randy’s arm and moving it before snapping it back into place. Randy hissed and snarled, pain flashing across his face. Christian quailed momentarily but refused to be cowed it seemed, placing a bandage around Randy’s arm like he’d done with Evan’s the day before.

The support would further aid the healing process but the sire didn’t much enjoy it; it essentially blared like a big, neon sign that he was hurt. Wide-eyed, Ted watched as John suddenly moved to Randy, the large brunette bending down in a manner that looked almost like an embrace--- but Ted could see the way Randy licked at John’s throat before sinking his teeth into the flesh. Christian’s eyes glinted slightly at the sight and scent of blood and unconscious desire, but other than that he was unaffected due to the fact that he was perfectly content with his own mate. It was like a car-accident to Ted; he knew that he shouldn’t look, but couldn’t stop.

All in all it took about twenty seconds and even Ted could see that Randy looked better immediately after feeding from John. Once again he licked John’s throat, apparently sealing his wound, and Ted was so lost in what he was witnessing that he didn’t notice that Randy had caught sight of him underneath the cover of the kitchen’s archway. “What?” he said, voice coming out quite harshly and Ted backed up a step before squaring his jaw and lifting his head; Randy might be the boss of this group, but his lover was part of it, as was he, and if their safeties were threatened then he sure as hell wasn’t just going to sit on the side-lines and merely twiddle his goddamn thumbs.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Ted said and Christian had to admire the other man’s balls for standing up to their sire like that; even Hunter and his mouthy mate Adam didn’t get clever or insubordinate to Randy most of the time, so this was definitely new. “I’ll just be out there…” Christian said, sensing from his sire that he should clear off as quickly as he could. When the door closed behind him Randy then arched a brow at Ted and the blonde man moved closer to them. He took a breath and swallowed, attempting to compose his thoughts. Ted then lifted his head and looked Randy square in the eye, “I want to know what I can do to help get rid of this psycho.”

~::~

As he walked back out of the kitchen after a rather lengthy discussion Ted found himself almost walking right into Cody’s chest, his lover’s quick hands being the only things stopping him from making an ass of himself. “Cody—“his heart thumped suddenly; how long had Cody been stood there and how much had he heard? However, Ted could tell nothing from Cody’s expression except that he was clearly still wound up, concerned and confused. “Is something the matter? What did you talk to Randy about?” Ted’s mind immediately wandered back into the kitchen and he shook his head, “I’ll tell you later,” he promised Cody quietly as he started across to a couch to sit himself down.

Barely seconds later Randy and John were also walking back into the living-room. The sling bandage was still around Randy’s arm but it was already apparent that his appendage was in much better shape than it had been beforehand. “He’s gone,” Hunter reported. He, Shawn and Chris had all gone outside and done a fast, but thorough, sweep of the perimeter and they couldn’t find anything except for a lingering scent. Adam was of the opinion that they should destroy all of the grass and foliage with a weeding agent before planting seed to get it all back afresh again, disgusted with the thought of this man’s presence being left even intangibly on their home.

“I know,” Randy said quietly, but nodded to acknowledge their efforts before then rubbing a hand over the back of his neck before he dropped himself down onto the couch. The heavy movement jarred his arm somewhat and Randy hissed quietly at the flare of pain but was quick to compose himself. “But, we will deal with him soon enough. We…” he stopped, brow furrowing momentarily before he glanced at John and then addressed his children, “Tomorrow night… We can all expect a visit from the Undertaker.” He refused to address the man by the usual title of ‘Master ‘Taker’ on the principle alone that no man was his master, he mastered himself only.

It was one of the only reasons that he hated the fact that John would act so reverent and submissive towards him even when hearing his damn voice; such behaviour reminded him that in a way it was lucky that they hadn’t been together after he had changed because if he had there was every chance that he could have been indoctrinated into the same blind faith that John had been. Mercifully the man had walked away from it somewhat at least, but Randy was determined that he would one day he would eradicate _everything_ of ‘Taker from his mate bar the memories. You could never deny or forget whoever had sired you, their face forever burned into your mind.

That was why a lot of vampire victims, even if they had never known the name of the person who had eventually murdered them, they would know their face, and that was how (like Randy finding him) they managed to seek their sires out at the end of the day. And for a lot of vampires the compulsion was there, whether they wanted it to be or not. Usually once they found out what had happened to them they were often OK with leaving again and getting on with their lives… undead lives, whatever you wanted to consider it as being. Whether they attacked their sire, merely confronted them or even ended up returning on them varied vampire to vampire.

The reaction to the news was instantaneous (and not altogether surprising given the way that the older vampires had reacted when the man’s name had been brought up the night before) and Ted would have fallen over at the sudden onslaught of noise after things had been so quiet had Cody’s arms not been wrapped around his middle. His lover was tense and Ted knew it, though he doubted that he was going to be any more at ease once he found out what Ted had discussed with Randy beforehand. “Master ‘Taker?” Chris repeated, adopting the title out of respect more than knowledge of the man since he was hazy on many of the details too.

“Is coming here?” Shawn added and Randy sent them both a look but the lack of venom was apparent; usually he hated repeating himself but in this instance he let the fact pass because of the shocks that they had had for a majority of the night. “Yes,” Randy said, “I don’t know when exactly but I do know that I expect you all to be on your best behaviour,” it would have been funny to hear Randy chastising the (very) grown men in such a fashion were it not for the seriousness of the situation. “Of course we will,” Adam muttered quietly, being hushed by Christian when Randy shot him a quick look. That night no one prepared to head to bed until there was no choice.

As Cody crashed out beside him on the bed Ted found himself completely uneasy; Dave was older than John and so that meant that he wouldn’t be asleep yet, even if he wouldn’t be able to risk being out in the open enough to try and do something to the men inside of the manor. He was holding an ornate gold crucifix in his hand; he’d had it since he was christened as a baby, though he had been minding not to have it out in the open recently since he didn’t know how the religious item might affect vampires. That was one of the myths that he had left to prove or disprove. The blonde remained awake until gone seven in the morning, and then he fell asleep.

It was a restless sort of sleep, and it was merely a few hours later before he was stirring again; it seemed that even with Cody there, safe for sure for the time being, the man’s subconscious just wouldn’t rest. Rubbing his eyes tiredly Ted then adjusted the covers over Cody (he knew that they probably didn’t do much for him but it was more habit than anything to ensure that Cody was comfortable) before getting out of bed himself. Crossing into the bathroom Ted then turned the hot tap on then placed the plug in, watching as water began to fill the tub. Looking at his face in the mirrors over the sink Ted levelled himself with a wan expression.

He looked, in laymen’s terms, like shit, but that was to be expected; he had always looked rough when he had been stressed about something, and at that point in time he was _rather stressed_. Stripping out of his clothes once the bath had filled Ted then checked that he had a towel nearby and then slipped into the water. He would have preferred to wait for Cody, see if he wanted to bathe with him, but at the same time he knew he wanted to try and make himself look less weary and drained before Cody awoke; his fiancé would only get guilty if he saw Ted like this even though it was in no way or form his fault. He didn’t regret being brought into Cody’s life.

Even with all of this stuff happening, he knew that he didn’t regret it. And he told himself firmly that he could get through it; he had to be there for Cody, and he had to be there for the people that he now considered his friends. They had invited him into their home, accepted him –or tolerated him anyway- and he wanted to be able to help them in some way. Sinking backwards into the water Ted sighed gently and closed his eyes. The water was just slightly shy of _too_ hot for him (Cody had always been the one with the womanly habit of taking baths that were often much too warm for his liking) and Ted felt himself being physically soothed almost immediately.

It seemed that he had been more tired than he had expected because the next thing he knew he was snorting a few bubbles as he took a breath and the water he lay in had become cold. Considering himself lucky that he hadn’t slipped down into the water and accidentally drowned himself –somehow he doubted even Randy would be able to bring him back if _that_ happened- Ted drained the tub and exited it, scrubbing himself with the towel swiftly before pulling on some boxers. He selected a pair of jeans and then added a t-shirt and hoody to complete his outfit. Though he had very little clue who Master ‘Taker was, Ted suddenly wondered whether he should be dressing up some more.

Even as he was holding the internal debate with himself Ted’s eyes drifted to the book that lay on what was now his bedside table. He hadn’t gotten around to reading much of it the night before and it seemed like then was as good a time as any to make an effort to get some studying in. If he ended up getting questioned out of nowhere by the uber-vamp that was soon to be visiting he didn’t want to embarrass Cody or himself by seeming completely and utterly ignorant about everything. Flipping the book open Ted clicked on the bedside lamp. Though the room was protectively dark for Cody, Ted had found that it seemed to get even darker still at night.

Once he was settled in for the reading occasion Ted soon became lost in the text. Chris had claimed it was supposed to be the more modern variation, and Ted found himself feeling sorry for whoever had attempted to use the originals--- this was hardly the easiest thing he had read, and that was saying something since he had read Jane Eyre once when he was a pre-teen to prove a point in a bet with his big brother Mike, and he had thought that that book was the most impossible thing he had ever come across. He had been reading longer than he thought he had it turned out because suddenly he was aware of Cody looking at him.

The dark haired man was laid on his side, chin resting on his hand and his eyes fixed un-movingly on Ted. Jumping slightly in rather a delayed reaction Ted then laughed sheepishly and cleared his throat, “Sorry…” he apologised, guessing that Cody had maybe attempted to speak to him when he had been reading and he’d completely missed the point since his attention was elsewhere at that point in time. “Don’t worry about it,” Cody responded, shifting enough to try and see what Ted was reading, “Interesting?” admittedly he hadn’t really attempted to read things with a lot of complexity in them since his change; they antagonised him as opposed to soothing or distracting him.

“It is rather,” Ted admitted, indicating to Cody an image of a man in what looked like an old fashioned funeral director’s hat and a long coat. It was obviously a reproduced image but still as old as the rest of the book, and underneath it two words were printed in bold, italic text: _‘The Undertaker’_. Watching as Cody seemed to make the connection between the person of the previous days’ conversations, Ted then asked, “Is that _really_ supposed to be the person who made John a vampire?” he asked. According to the book very little was known about his earliest exploits, and the exploits that were known about as connected with the man were far and few between.

“Yeah,” Cody nodded his head, noticing that the image in the book didn’t show a face. For reasons that he didn’t entirely want to consider the fact that the image was sans a face gave Cody a very ominous feeling. “I’m just going to get a bath, OK?” he murmured, brushing his lips across Ted’s cheek. Ted nodded, causing Cody to still momentarily though when he suddenly grabbed his hand. “Teddy?” Cody asked softly, eyes widening slightly when he suddenly found himself being kissed by Ted--- and the kiss was _everything and more_ that their old kisses had been. The vampire actually felt out of breath when it ended and he didn’t need to breathe.

He was so dazed in fact that he didn’t even panic about what his breath must have been like since he had had yet to brush his teeth. The vampire smiled softly at Ted and caressed the back of his neck before vanishing into the bathroom. Again, by Cody’s usual standards when he had been human the bath took very little time altogether--- running the thing had to have been what took up the most time he was sure. When Cody reappeared he dressed in some dark jeans that moulded to his ass most teasingly, and a dark shirt, a hoody thrown on top. Cody had always seemed to like a mix of dressy and casual when he could get away with it.

When he had finished doing his usual grooming regimen (don’t ask… it was an old joke between them) he joined Ted on the bed. They had no idea when their visitor was supposed to be arriving but Ted had no doubt that Cody would know when things were happening… they always seemed to even without someone forewarning them. “Teddy…” the ravenette had remained silent for a good few minutes before he asked what had been playing on his mind even before he had fallen into rest the night before, “What did you talk to Randy about?” he doubted it was anything bad but it hurt that Ted almost didn’t seem to deem him… worthy of knowing.

The smile that had come back to his face when Cody had reappeared slipped slowly at the question and Ted chewed his lip. It wasn’t that he felt guilty, per se, but more than he knew that Cody was probably going to get _very_ mad at him for it. “I…” he marked his place and then set the book aside securely, “I asked Randy about whether it was possible for me to do something to help take this Dave guy out.” Almost immediately, as he had predicted, Cody’s face took on a look of panic combined with anger, but before he could get started chastising him Ted placed a finger over Cody’s lips and continued speaking, “I _can do something_ Cody,” he said, face determined and serious.

“During the day you’re all essentially helpless, right? I thought that I could maybe find him and then stake him or something—“he sighed then and seemed to pout almost as he looked aside, “But Randy put his foot down. He wouldn’t allow me to go walking into danger, he said, and he said that the most I could do to help was keep out of the way… and prepare myself for if you _needed_ me.” His brow furrowed then; the words seemed straightforward but the tone Randy had used had confused him, and the way John had shot Randy a sudden look of warning, as though he was saying too much, had further confused the blonde. He’d missed something and he knew he had.

~:~

Cody frowned a little, knowing Randy well enough that it was probably the manner of speaking that had confused Ted but the words seemed straightforward enough and he didn’t have the benefit of seeing Randy say them. He needed Ted in the most fundamental way of course but as to how he could help out in this situation, he was at a loss. He thought it best that Ted was kept well out of it anyway; the thought of his fiancé anywhere near that monster filled him with a crawling, horrified dread. Neither John nor Randy were entirely powerless during the day and it stood to reason that being even older than both of them, Dave would have that same advantage. He was going to have to work hard to rid himself of the image of Ted approaching a sleeping Dave with a stake only for the vampire to open his eyes and pounce…

“He’s just being cryptic,” he said dismissively of Randy’s words, which was true enough but he suspected that they’d find out what was meant sooner or later, for better or worse. “But he’s right about one thing Teddy—“

He reached out and wrapped his arms around the man. “You need to take a backseat on this one baby,” he said softly. “You saw that guy and if something happened to you because I needed to be back in your life…” He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “I couldn’t take it. I’d walk into the sun before I let that happen.”

He could hear how Ted’s heart thudded harder at the words and he winced a little, not wanting to upset Ted in any way but knowing that was probably the one thing that would have a chance of persuading Ted not to get involved. “He was looking at you Teddy and Randy said – he said he’d mentioned you specifically. He talked about turning you himself. I won’t let him harm you but if I’m to keep you safe then I _need_ you to let me.”

Ted was quiet for a moment, then looked back into Cody’s eyes. “If there’s something I can do, then I’m gonna do it,” he said defiantly, then sighed. “But since there isn’t… I’ll go along with whatever’s decided. And if that means staying away, then I’ll do that.”

Cody leaned in to kiss his lips gently – Ted was clearly unhappy about being left out, he had always been the kind to act rather than stand aside, but Cody was just relieved to hear that he would be as safe as they could make him. And there was no question of Ted going home now; Cody couldn’t allow it because Dave was very likely to be able to find Ted there. “Come on baby,” he said. “Everyone else’ll be downstairs already and maybe we won’t even have to worry anymore. Maybe ‘Taker can rein this guy in.”

Ted thought back to the picture, the man without a face, and shivered slightly. “If anyone can, it sounds like him,” he said, although judging by the little that he knew he wasn’t convinced that the legend would be interested in their struggles.

~:~

Randy’s arm had healed up almost completely when he woke, later than he might normally have done, with only a little lingering stiffness in the shoulder. He tested it a little as he found something to wear for the ‘Taker to arrive in his home, momentarily debating if he should go for a suit or something similar and settling for jeans. John’s sire might be a Big Bad, someone to be respected and feared, but Randy had a healthy streak of rebelliousness and he wasn’t about to pander to him. Jeans and a shirt, sleeves rolled up. He psyched himself up as he dressed, knowing that if the ‘Taker had any misgivings at all about taking care of Dave, or them doing it, then he would need to be at his most persuasive and commanding. He knew that throwing orders around would be counter-productive but he could charm if he had to and it was too important to leave to chance. He needed the bastard out of the way and no longer able to harm his lover…

“Randy?”

Randy turned his attention to his lover, who was sitting on the bed and watching him. It seemed that John had also decided there was no need to dress up for the occasion, jeans slung low on his hips and no shirt on. For a moment Randy forgot about what was due to happen that night and felt that common urge to run his hands over that incredible body, then his lips, ridding John of the jeans altogether… but John looked a little pensive and Randy managed to put his desires aside. “Yeah?”

John’s eyes flashed momentarily amused and Randy knew he’d picked up on the desire. “Feed from me.”

Unbidden, Randy’s gaze went to John’s neck and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. It wasn’t that he thought feeding might lead to something more (although that was a part of it), it was more that he had no idea when ‘Taker might arrive and he wanted to be ready, not taken by surprise in the middle of feeding. “My shoulder’s fine baby.”

“I know.” John didn’t drop his eyes. “It’s not that. I want us to be connected tonight.”

Sudden understanding dawned. _Connected_ wasn’t the best way of putting it, but it was true that mates, bonded or not, always felt closer after feeding from one another and it was evident for those who cared to look that they had done so. ‘Taker would notice and Randy knew it would make him feel stronger, John too. He cast the shirt he had been about to put on aside and sat beside John on the bed, making a soft sound in the back of his throat as John bared his neck without hesitation. A moment later his teeth penetrated the skin of John’s neck, his mouth filling with the familiar coppery taste that no one else in the world could emulate. His hand went to John’s head as if to support it, careful not to take too much – he didn’t need it, this was strictly for the purpose of giving each other emotional strength rather than from need and it would be very easy for him to lose his mind. John being shirtless brought him close enough to that and he couldn’t afford it.

Once he had finished he ran his tongue over John’s wound and didn’t stop, tracing over the skin of John’s neck with the very tip of his tongue and feeling his lover’s slight shiver. Smiling to himself at the reaction, he pulled back and tipped back his own head to show his throat. For a moment he thought John would protest, citing the previous nights injury but it wasn’t as if there had been blood loss involved and a Randy sighed happily as he felt John’s lips at his vein, biting down. Although there was a lot to be said for the act of drinking blood, few seemed to realise that giving was just as rewarding. It was the ultimate act of trust, almost submission, and the almost sexual feeling of sharing with ones mate extended to being fed from. He could feel john’s hand on his shoulder as he allowed the other to take what he liked, completely forgetting that he’d not intended to go further than a little mutual snack until John sealed the wound and pulled back. Randy met his eyes as he did, the wound on his neck not hurting exactly but certainly making itself known and a similar feeling coming from the faint mark on his thigh where John had occasionally been known to feed from. No one knew why they tended to retain the wounds of those that fed upon them frequently, as barely-there as they remained, although Randy personally suspected it was to do with marking what was theirs. They were a territorial species. A tactile one too when it came to their mates and Randy was just sorry that there was no time to prove it.

“Later,” John promised although Randy hadn’t spoken, rather proving that he wasn’t the only one having a certain kind of thought.

When they finished dressing and got downstairs, it seemed as if everyone had been thinking along the same lines as they had. Although Shawn and Hunter were somewhat smarter than the rest of them (and Randy rather wondered if it was because they were older than him in human years and older than the others in vampire ones), it would have taken someone a lot more fearsome to part Adam from casual clothes and he and Christian were jean-clad too. They’d made a bit of an effort and Randy had a sudden affectionate memory of the early eighties when the two of them along with Chris had been almost interchangeable with their long blonde hair and love of tight leather, spandex or PVC pants. They’d enjoyed the rather hedonistic feel of the start of the decade and he suspected that both Adam and Christian had been a little star-struck even more than ten years after Chris’s change. The look had aged badly and only Adam refused to go with cutting off his hair completely. They could all laugh about it now and with Evan around they got teased plenty. Speaking of Chris and Evan, they had elected to go with smart-casual (it was always hard to judge with Chris, he was mildly schizophrenic when it came to his wardrobe) and although Chris seemed calm enough, Evan was fidgety and excitable. It was clear to Randy that they had all engaged in a little bonding-feeding as well.

The exception to that was Cody and Ted but he would have expected no less – he was still rather shocked that Ted had approached him with an admirably thought up if rather reckless plan and was serious about going through with it. Cody had chosen well there he thought. When the two appeared he could sense Cody’s anxiety and could hear Ted’s slightly elevated heartbeat but if he had anything to say about it neither of them would be involved. Cody was too inexperienced and Dave’s threats toward Ted had brought out Randy’s protective instincts. He had never forcibly changed anyone and the thought of another of their kind doing so maliciously enraged him, although he kept it hidden. There was no benefit in losing his temper here and now.

“Did he give you a time?” asked Adam rather sarcastically, directing the question at John.

“He’ll be here when he’s here,” Randy butted in, giving his childe a clear warning look. He sometimes wondered if he should subdue them a little more, not allow any form of insubordination at all, but although he didn’t hold kindly to it he wouldn’t feel right about not allowing them a voice. He demanded respect, not slavish devotion.

There was a few moments silence and then John lifted his head, looking sharply at the door. Randy didn’t sense a thing, but John had a bond with his sire that Randy didn’t share and it was to be expected that he would be the first to know – unless it was Dave returning of course, as he had said he would. It occurred to him that _there_ would be a hell of a scene. ‘Taker hadn’t been pleased to know about Dave’s intentions according to what John had said and he could just imagine the confrontation that might happen then.

No one asked John what was up with him and the silence meant that they all heard the engine approaching. Not a car, that was obvious even to those who took little interest in the vehicles. A bike and a powerful one by the sound. Randy, who _did_ take an interest, was sure it wasn’t a race bike, more likely a Harley of some kind. He wondered if he should be surprised but John didn’t seem to be, although his mate had removed himself from the clan before the advent of the internal combustion engine and therefore shouldn’t have a clue. Then again, ‘Taker seemed to have communicated his phone number with John somehow and so perhaps he should have expected him to know his sires habits.

The gates to the courtyard were closed but John went out to the hallway and pressed the button that would release them – there was another button at the gates themselves but it was controlled by a keypad so that intruders couldn’t access it. Not that Randy was sure that would be a hindrance to ‘Taker either. No wonder he was mostly myth. Randy followed John into the hallway, listening out as the bike stopped in the courtyard and wondering what the hell to expect. He’d heard the rumours of course, there had been a point in the nineteen-thirties that he had been suddenly gripped with an interest in their history that had fizzled out when it seemed there was nothing but vague half-remembered stories to go on (which was when he had gotten the books Ted and Chris had been reading). That didn’t mean he was sure what to expect.

It was John who opened the door and took a few steps back to allow his sire entry to the manor. Although Randy was head of the clan and as such should have done so, he thought it more appropriate that John was the one to welcome him to the manor – Randy could already _feel_ his competitive, jealous side trying to make itself known.

He had the vague impression of _size_ as the ‘Taker entered the house, clad in the darkness of a long leather trenchcoat and a wide-brimmed hat atop his head. He had just about enough time to wonder how it stayed on his head when he was riding a bike when his attention was completely diverted by John, who automatically went to one knee and bowed his head in the presence of his sire. Randy, who had never been one for such obvious displays of subservience, growled almost silently and sharply directed his gaze to the door of the living room. As he had thought, his clan were all peering out like small children trying to get a secret look at something they shouldn’t and not doing a very good job of hiding themselves. A terse jerk of Randy’s head told them that it wasn’t a good time to push their luck though and they all disappeared back into the room, the door closing behind them. Randy wasn’t quite sure how to feel at the sight of his mate bowing to someone else and he didn’t wish for his children to see it.

“It’s good to see you again John,” said ‘Taker and Randy was struck by the low, gravelly tones he used. “Stand.”

John did so, Randy feeling that John actually wanted to shoot him an embarrassed look – it was so unlike him and yet Randy knew why he had done it, even if he didn’t condone the behaviour. “It’s – good to see you too Master,” replied John and Randy wondered if the elder had caught the slight hesitation. He rather suspected he had. “This is my mate, Randal Orton.”

Unconsciously Randy straightened his back to reach his full height, feeling some trepidation but also satisfaction; the unmistakable pride in John’s voice at the introduction told him a lot. John moved aside to allow the ‘Taker to come further into the manor and Randy was able to get a real look at his grandsire.

He was tall, that was the first thing anyone noticed about him. Randy was tall compared to most people but ‘Taker had to graze seven foot and the hat threw his face into shadow. Long red-black hair showed fell past his shoulders and beneath the trenchcoat was the unmistakable shape of someone who was strong, muscled. He might have been a stereotypical biker, intimidating and potentially dangerous but nothing supernatural, but the eyes that fixed on Randy appeared for a long moment to be pure white.

And then they weren’t, the irises were blue and the expression in them searching but not completely cold. “I’m glad to meet my childe’s mate,” said ‘Taker, the slightly odd phrasing striking Randy as almost but not quite insulting.

“I’m glad to meet my mates sire,” returned Randy, refusing to let himself be intimidated although it would be easy – there was an aura around the older vampire that made him want to instinctively bow his own head in recognition. He wasn’t about to allow that to happen though. This was his manor and his mate and that he was dealing with ‘Taker at all was mere courtesy. He would dispose of Dave regardless of whether or not ‘Taker wanted him to live, unless he was offered another option he could live with and he wasn’t sure that ‘Taker could. Dave after all was not his childe.

‘Taker gave him a long, appraising look and then turned to John. “I would like to speak with Randal alone.”

John looked as taken aback as Randy felt and ‘Taker gave something that was close to a smile, if not quite making it. “He is the head of his clan as I am ruler of mine and there are formalities to observe.” He turned his attention back to Randy. “Is there a place we can speak?”

Randy gave John a rather baffled look and John nodded his assent to the request (although it certainly hadn’t been that, it had been more of a statement of what would happen next), so Randy assumed that whatever problems John had with it, he was willing to put them to one side. Randy wasn’t at all sure that the kitchen was the best place for the meeting but there were enough seats there whereas there was only one in the library and he wasn’t at all sure the rec room would be much appreciated and so he led ‘Taker there, leaving John behind. He thought that John might have gone back into the living room but he wasn’t sure, there would be a lot of questions to answer if he did do and he wasn’t sure that John would be ready to answer them at that time.

The florescent lights of the kitchen seemed very bright after the more muted ones of the hallway. Randy gave ‘Taker a rather wary look, the elder didn’t seem any less intimidating for the brighter setting. “Um, you want some O neg?”

‘Taker looked almost amused. “I fed already.”

That led to all kinds of questions but Randy didn’t want to ask them, he wasn’t trying to get friendly after all. “So, what do you want to talk about? Is this some kind of father thing, where you warn me what’s gonna happen if I hurt John?”

‘Taker shook his head slowly. “I hardly think you’d be bonded if that were a likelihood. John’s not a trusting soul anymore.” He seemed to sense what Randy was thinking. “I take it that John shared the story of his changing with you?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t approve of how I dealt with the situation.”

Randy folded his arms. He had been _dying_ to bring up the whole issue but knew that John wouldn’t like it and it wouldn’t help their current situation, but since the subject had come up… “I think the damned psycho that killed John probably wasn’t the best choice for a mentor. What the _fuck_ possessed you? Was it some kind of _game?”_

“You’re thinking of this as John’s mate and not the way I did—“

“That sounds like an excuse and a weak one.”

“You’re definitely thinking like a mate.” ‘Taker’s voice was foreboding. “Because it’s not often that anyone dares to speak to me like that, particularly one from my own lineage.”

Randy didn’t trust himself to respond. He didn’t want an excuse, he wanted – what, for ‘Taker to do something that would atone for it? Yeah, if he was honest that was exactly what he wanted.

“It relates to what’s happening today.” ‘Taker’s eyes bored into Randy, the coldness letting him know that his insubordination had been neither forgiven nor forgotten. It made Randy wonder just how long it had been since anyone had answered him back. “I was, in my own way, trying to bring Dave Batista back under control. He was changed before this country had been discovered by the pilgrims, before the uneasy peace between the oldest of our race was called. He is older than you can imagine and he is not my childe. He has always been belligerent when it comes to our status among the humans, he doesn’t believe in hiding himself and what he is and he doesn’t practice moderation in his habits. He has always prized brute force over thought. And he has been slowly losing his grip on his ego and his temper for a long time.”

‘Taker’s expression was sombre. “Dave has never found a mate, not all of our kind do although you and your clan have been fortunate. That kind of solitude for hundreds of years can harm the mind. You may have heard something of the troubles that my brother and I had with one another. Perhaps I should have killed him when I wrested control of his clan from him, but – I could not. Instead I took on the responsibility of ensuring his instability was contained and _that_ has been a stabilising factor for me as well. I thought that given the same task, Dave might find his way to some kind of plateau. I knew that John wasn’t like him and I thought tasked with protecting and teaching him, Dave would finally learn to be an example. But it soon became clear I made the wrong choice. Dave was willing to teach John but only what he himself thought of as the right way and John was filled with more loathing for Dave and for what he had become as time passed. As soon as John was able to protect himself, I let him go. Dave was – unhappy. In spite of how he behaved, John had been a buffer between himself and an eternity of solitude.”

The iron gaze never left Randy for a moment. “When I took control of Kane’s clan, I swore that I would protect them as if I were their sire. That meant doing what I could for Dave. Age doesn’t always lead to wisdom however.”

“Why did you want to tell me this without John here?”

The question actually seemed to derail ‘Taker for a moment, but he rallied instantly. “John doesn’t like to remember being a part of our clan, does he?”

Randy shook his head and ‘Taker nodded. “I’m not surprised. John knew my reasoning but it’s hard for anyone to be in the constant company of the one who murdered them and that I had deemed him a mistake that Dave had to deal with – it left him bitter toward the whole thing, although he is not a bitter person by nature. I didn’t want to explain myself again knowing that John would accept that I did what seemed right but treated him as something less than he is in order to do it. And more than that—“

He removed the hat he was wearing, the gesture seeming very deliberate and measured, but Randy wondered if he was being symbolic or buying time or _what_. “John has no clan to lead. You do. You have taken the responsibility onto your shoulders, turned your children quite deliberately and kept them with you. John appreciates the bond you have with them, but he doesn’t understand it.”

“You wanted to explain to me because we’re both _sires_?”

The look he got in return made Randy wish he’d kept his mouth shut. “I don’t owe you an explanation for anything I do, or did. Consider it more a cautionary tale. I swore that I would protect my children, as you have. Not all of our kind change others with that intent, or they fail to monitor their charges and leave them to make their own way. Most left alone don’t survive, you are an exception. And of everyone here, including my childe, you are the only one who might come close to understanding some of my reluctance. Protection and guidance, that should be my role with Dave and yet I have to accept when such things might be beyond me and him, and when my responsibility falls instead with those he might harm.” He looked down for the briefest of moments but Randy caught the move. “You are still young compared to me, you have lived in different times with wisdom leaked even to humans. You have never had to ask yourself if one of your children needs to be put down. And I know that’s what you plan to ask.”

“He’s not your childe,” said Randy, but it sounded weak even to his own ears. Hadn’t ‘Taker already said he had adopted the responsibility for Dave and his clan?

“No, and I imagine that one of your arguments will be that I owe something to one who _is_ my childe.”

Randy really, really wished that ‘Taker wasn’t quite so astute, he seemed to read minds. “If there were some other way, I might consider it, really. I’m not after revenge… okay, I _am_ after revenge, I _really, really_ want revenge. For his past with my mate, _harming_ my mate and for his threats against my clan. But I might have considered another way if there was one. There isn’t. You’ve barely kept him under control for all these years, you’ve _lost_ control of him before and now. Revenge is one thing but he’s an active threat to my clan and I won’t allow that. You’re the leader of yours and you have to understand that much.”

‘Taker inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement and Randy continued. “As head of this clan, I don’t want hostilities between us. Mostly for John’s sake, although I can admit that there are more of you, older and more powerful and it might not go so well for us. But Dave has attacked my mate, my childe’s mate and me. He’s promised to come back and injure or kill the clan if he doesn’t get his own way. And we have a human under our protection he’s also made threats against and given how John came to be one of us, I don’t want Dave getting anywhere near him. I don’t want a feud but I _will_ protect my clan.”

The unspoken words hung between them: _with or without your approval_. If ‘Taker wanted to he could ensure any harm to Dave could be repaid in kind, or he could order that there be no reprisals. Randy knew what he’d prefer but it wasn’t going to stop him, he was deadly serious when it came to protecting his own.

‘Taker pressed his lips together and it occurred to Randy that the elder vampire hadn’t taken a single breath in the whole time they had been talking. He needed to breathe, so little that it freaked people out but it was still a necessity. Did ‘Taker need that at all? He decided the question was not as important as the ones currently under discussion. ‘Taker was old school and his main dealings were right now, with Randy. It would certainly come before the rest of the clan before the night was through but Randy knew that most of the case would be made by him, in this room when it was just the two of them.

“You seem to be a fine mentor for your clan, if headstrong and arrogant.” ‘Taker rose to his full height, retrieving his hat. “Such things are probably youth – it’s been a long time since I was a mere two hundred years and when I was, there were more pressing things than clan comfort on my mind. Time has a way of blurring emotions. We should take the rest of our discussion before the clan.”


	11. I Need To Know You're With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clan finally gets to meet Master 'Taker, and Ted makes a request of Cody.

Needless to say Randy had to fight very hard to keep his temper from flaring before his grandsire; the sudden decision that they should go and talk to the rest of the clan was a blatant stalling tactic and he knew it, but at the same time he could hardly deny it: his clan had always been rather democratic and the sudden attempt to change that would not be taken with good-heart by his children or sire.

“Of course,” he instead managed, getting to his feet and leading ‘Taker back through the kitchen towards the living-room. As he got closer he almost allowed himself a smile; he could all but _feel_ the anxiety within from his children, knowing that the fact that they had been waiting there without some clue as to what was happening had probably been killing them more and more the longer the wait.

Opening the door he then stepped back and allowed ‘Taker to go through first. The gesture was only small but the respect contained therein spoke volumes and Randy swore that he saw the ghost of a smile pass the man’s lips fleetingly before he nodded his head slightly and then strode into the room, seemingly without fear. Randy begrudgingly acknowledged that they probably _didn’t_ cause the man too much fear since, as he had pointed out, they were all still mere infants compared to him and their strength combined probably wouldn’t even make the man pause. It wasn’t something he _wanted_ to admit at all, but that he _had_ to concede.

“Good evening,” ‘Taker rumbled, amused by the reactions he received from the occupants of the room; wide-eyed looks of disbelief and some of incredulity. He knew that the last one probably stemmed from the fact that his appearance may not strike them as someone who had been around during a time that would rarely be documented in the history books. Undoubtedly they had been led to believe that he was as much myth as reality and so their shock at seeing him was not unwarranted. Sensing, suddenly, the pounding heart-beat, ‘Taker’s head slowly turned in the direction of the sound. His brows rose just a little as he noticed the blonde human.

He was sitting beside a dark-haired vampire, one of his grandchild’s children, his great-grandchild, and yet he had seemed completely… _accepted_ right where he was. It wasn’t so much the fact that he was human that surprised ‘Taker, since he had been told that they had one there, but because the human hadn’t even been _fed_ from--- and he recognised the need deep, deep down in the dark haired vampire at his side that wanted to, wanted to claim and mark and _taste_. He admired the young vampire’s control… he hadn’t even reached half a decade yet and had managed to resist the urge. His thoughts were pulled from the human though by a sudden hiss of, “Evvy!”

The young vampire had gotten to his feet (and ‘Taker would have thought that he and the one with the human companion bore some relation to one another due to their colouring if he couldn’t sense differently) quite without pause. It didn’t surprise ‘Taker though; the younger the vampire the stronger the thrall when they were faced with someone like himself. They didn’t mean it, and it was wholly instinctive--- and sadly the sort of thing that unscrupulous elders used to manipulate and enslave impressionable younglings. From his side, standing once again with John, Randy tensed eyes wide. He had no idea what Evan was doing and so didn’t know how to react.

A hand on his arm had his gaze shooting downwards before looking back up to John. His lover merely shook his head, projecting a feeling of reassurance through to his mate. _It’s alright,_ the feeling told him, _Master ‘Taker won’t hurt him, and Evan isn’t doing anything wrong._ Reluctantly Randy forced himself to ease, watching as Chris seemed to be resisting the urge to leap out of his chair and drag Evan back into his arms again. Evan hesitated then, seeming to realise that he had caused a stir, but ‘Taker merely slowly extended a hand out to him. “Do not be afraid of me, little one,” he rumbled lowly and Cody noticed Chris bristling at the casually used term.

It was one that he himself used to Evan during times of affection and intimacy, though he knew that there was _no possible way_ that ‘Taker could know that it rankled all the same. Slowly, uncertainly, and sending a look back to Chris as he sensed his mate’s displeasure, Evan then placed a hand into ‘Taker’s own, looking at their great-grandsire. Bringing the man’s wrist to his face Evan then placed his cheek against it. Ted looked at Cody, having no clue what was happening. Cody was watching the scene before him but he gave Ted’s hand a gentle squeeze and murmured, “He’s scenting him.” it was different than when they did it with Ted, obviously, but had the same point.

“Oh…” Ted murmured, watching as Evan then lifted his head back and smiled at ‘Taker. Something that could almost, _almost_ be considered as affection appeared on the impossibly tall man’s face and he patted Evan on the head in a manner that Ted saw as somewhat patronising, almost as though Evan was some sort of inquisitorial puppy to be pacified, but the dark-haired vampire didn’t seem to mind. Afterwards Evan was quick to return to Chris, ‘Taker seeming to barely bat an eyelash as the blonde vampire immediately secured his mate in his lap in a blatantly territorial manner. Cody was shifting awkwardly and Ted glanced at him, concerned.

He didn’t realise that as the second youngest of the clan he also had the urge to ‘present’ himself to the old vampire, but he was fighting the urge because he didn’t want to leave Ted unattended. Granted, ‘Taker had barely acknowledged Ted since that first look but Cody wasn’t taking any chances. Feeling a hand on his thigh Cody then glanced to Ted quickly and sent him a reassuring smile, taking a breath of Ted’s scent when his need to breathe came and using it to focus the anxiety and calm down some more. “My apologies for intruding in your home,” ‘Taker started then, seeming to deem that no further ‘introductions’ were going to be needed. “I shan’t be too long.”

It was odd, his manner of speech; some of it seemed far too old, interspersed with the occasional drip into something more modern, but even then _that_ seemed much older than any terms they would traditionally use to talk to one another. The vampires in the room shifted expectantly and ‘Taker then seemed to sigh, glancing towards an armchair. “Do sit down,” Randy said, though it was more for proprieties sake than he actually giving permission; he didn’t exactly care if the man wanted to sit or stand. Nodding in thanks, ‘Taker then slowly removed his hat in that same deliberate and symbolic manner as before and then seated himself down in the chair.

“I understand that my brother’s child has been causing you some difficulties. For that I apologise.” Adam’s jaw was working with his reflexive urge to say something, anything to the man that would let him know in no uncertain terms that an apology wasn’t good enough, but he managed to hold back and for that Randy was grateful. As of yet ‘Taker’s only violence had been in the veiled threats and looks from the kitchen, but only when Randy had done something to invite them. If someone lower in the hierarchy offended him then Randy didn’t know what ‘Taker might do… and he could hardly step in and interfere with whatever ‘punishment’ the elder saw fit regarding the rudeness.

For a moment ‘Taker had that same unhappy look on his admittedly mainly expressionless face, the man clearly gathering his throats. “Your leader and I have discussed this—“Randy arched a brow slightly at that because they hadn’t exactly ‘discussed it’ in the traditional terms of a discussion. It had been more of a case of one stating his intentions and the other having yet to give him a response. “And… I’m giving my consent to your dealing with Dave as you see fit.” There was a gasp in the room, but although many might have thought it came from Ted it in fact came from _John_. John stared at his sire, clearly wanting to say something.

Clearly, ‘Taker knew what he wanted to say even before John came out and said it. “I shall mediate with my brother, Kane, and no retaliation shall be given from myself or my clan should Dave… befall misfortune,” he said with obvious delicacy. Even though none of the children had been in the kitchen to hear what exactly had been said between the sire and grandsire none of them could state that ‘Taker’s decision had been made lightly; it was clear the man seemed to be struggling with something, though whether that something could be considered his conscience was an _uncertain_ topic to say the least. “You do realise how difficult removing him will be, yes?”

The choice of words were not lost on the clan, or Ted: ‘Taker was talking as though they were merely discussing the removal of some sort of pest as opposed to what was essentially murder… even if the person in question deserved what was coming to him. Shivering slightly despite himself Ted pressed closer to Cody, feeling Cody’s arms go around his middle instead. ‘Taker seemed oblivious to any unease within the clan, “He’s strong and lacks empathy; he will come at you with everything he has and he is as single-minded as a charging rhino. I do hope you’re prepared for a difficult battle…” he then looked at Evan, Cody and Ted, slowly and deliberately.

“Perhaps you should also consider those that should be left behind lest they pose something more of a potential burden upon the rest of you.” The words were not meant to be offensive but Randy could feel the spike of it coming from certain members in the room. Suddenly ‘Taker stood up and the other vampires in the room seemed to rise as one without thinking about it--- Ted quick to follow suit since he didn’t want to accidentally offend this obviously important visitor. Replacing his hat ‘Taker then nodded just slightly, and everyone in the room save for Randy (and Ted since he wasn’t compelled in quite the same way) moved into some sort of bow of respect.

John looked slightly concerned with how ‘Taker might react when Randy wouldn’t bow, but if anything he didn’t even seem to notice it. Looking around at each person individually he seemed to suddenly get something of a paternal pride in his voice as he said, “You are a fine clan, and you should be congratulated.” As soon as it was there though it was gone, “But you should not get complacent or overconfident. With this I shall bid you all goodnight,” he then glanced at John and said, “John, walk me out.” Randy once again felt a flickering of irritation when his mate didn’t even seem to hesitate to comply with the request that had been made of him by the other vampire.

Once they left the living-room the clan seemed to surge forward as one to look out of the main window. “Damn, that’s a nice bike,” Shawn whistled and there were several murmurs of ascent; the Harley was definitely not one that would come cheap, even by Harley standards. Randy couldn’t tell what they were saying, even with his enhanced hearing, and he already knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself grilling John about it when his mate came back in. For a moment John even managed to _smile_ at ‘Taker, to the degree where his dimples appeared, and that further roused his curiosity. And then, John stepped back and ‘Taker got astride his bike.

A few more words were exchanged and then the two men parted; ‘Taker’s bike vanished mere seconds later and John didn’t bother making his way indoors until after he was out of sight. Once he got inside though he exhaled and leant back against the door, covering his face with his hands momentarily. He had no affection towards Dave, not even slightly, but the taking of a life, no matter how much you might deem it justified, was not an easy thing to consider… especially when he had first been ‘brought into the world’ seeing senseless brutality and mindless gore. Sensing Randy approaching he lowered his hands and smiled slightly.

“I feel like we’ve just been through that human-teenager thing of introducing a lover to your dad for the first time,” it was a weak quip and they both knew it but Randy managed a smile for him all the same. There was a determination in his eyes though that John could read even without their bond telling him how Randy was feeling right then. “So… we’re gonna do this then?” he asked and Randy nodded firmly before stilling, “Don’t you want—“he started and John immediately crossed the distance between them, cupping Randy’s face in his hands and making sure his mate couldn’t look away, “Don’t think that,” he said quietly, firmly, “Don’t ever think that, Randy.”

He didn’t want even the smallest impression left on his mate that he might somehow be feeling something like sympathy or pity towards Dave, or that something may occur that would somehow lead John to prevent them in their quest of destroying him. And there was no way around it: they _would_ be _destroying_ Dave. Thankfully Randy seemed to accept his words because he relaxed some more before then reaching and bringing his arms around John’s waist, drawing the man close. “I need to know you’re there with me on this,” Randy murmured quietly and John nodded his head, resting his forehead against Randy’s afterwards, “Completely and utterly.”

Nodding, Randy then drew back from John and said, “I think we need to sit down and talk about this, but…” he paused and tilted his head before sighing, “The sun’s not far away now.” It seemed that ‘Taker had been there much longer than expected… or maybe it was the underlying expectation that Dave might show up again that had them all tense in the back of their minds. Whatever it was Randy was immediately frustrated; they wouldn’t have time to linger on the details tomorrow, and he wanted to take care of this matter as soon as they possibly could. John moved to his mate and wrapped his arms around Randy’s middle where the man had turned away from him.

“We’ll take care of it,” he said softly, though immediately his mind was ticking. He knew there was no way he could reason with Dave, and also that there was very little chance he would be able to take Dave out by himself, but that still seemed preferable to having his mate or the clan involved. “Whatever happens,” he promised, “We’ll take care of it.” On that note he pulled back and indicated the living-room; the clan were still inside waiting and John knew it’d be mere moments before they all came exploding out of there wanting answers and suchlike. Giving a wan look Randy nodded his head and led the way back inside, finding everyone waiting.

~::~

“Well, that was eventful,” Randy mumbled as he dropped onto his bed sometime literally minutes before dawn when they had finally managed to shrug off the last of his children that could keep up that late. “I swear… if you weren’t so good in bed I wouldn’t be putting this much effort in for you,” he was joking of course and John knew it. Chuckling softly, John moved across to the bed where Randy was sprawled and rubbed his back, “Poor love,” he cooed softly. Randy released a small sound almost like a purr as John’s strong fingers began to knead his back with a bit more pressure. Enough pressure to probably break a normal person’s back but to him it felt good.

“Take your shirt off,” John said, stopping the rubbing motions momentarily and Randy grumbled a protest before kneeling up and pulling off his shirt, as well as shrugging out of his jeans. John would have teased Randy for being so overeager but right then he just decided to let Randy have a break; his mate had been through a lot recently and it was all his fault--- though even if he had mentioned about his past before he doubted that it would have made any difference at all. Shrugging off his own shirt, John then decided to just get rid of his own jeans before he went across the room and took a bottle from the bathroom--- massage oil, the warming variety.

Straddling Randy’s taunt backside (Randy had been in _excellent_ shape when he’d passed) John poured some of the oil onto his palm and rubbed it between his hands before starting to massage his lover’s back. He was very careful and attentive of Randy’s shoulder, knowing it had healed now but still being able to feel the lingering stiffness and tension in the appendage. The sounds Randy was making told John how much he appreciated the attention, and the sounds continued even as John moved from his shoulders to Randy’s tattooed neck-base and then further and further down his back until he reached the waistband of his boxers. He twanged it playfully.

“Y’need me to do everything for you now?” Randy mumbled, completely relaxed for the moment. He lifted his hips up in a manner that stirred something deep in John’s primal urges, but he pushed them back firmly before then reaching and pulling the boxers off before tossing them aside. “Lazy fuck,” John chided back lightly before beginning to massage Randy’s buttocks. A definite purring growl left Randy this time and John felt contented as he felt the relaxation coming from Randy; he hadn’t felt the other this calm and lacking of internal murdering intent for what felt like an age now. After a few moments, when he was sure Randy was expecting it, he spread his cheeks.

“Fucking hell!” Randy gasped and shuddered, shifting into something more of a kneeling position on reflex as John’s tongue traced his entrance, swiping fleetingly and teasingly over the small pucker. Just as he was starting to get impatient with the pleasurable teasing John suddenly thrust his tongue into him. Randy moaned low in his throat and pushed back against the tongue, whining and arching his back when John’s hand soon joined into the fray, further pleasuring him. It seemed like no time at all when he was coming, wondering if everything had been building up in him more than he had expected--- it was very rare when he was finished _that_ quickly.

When John’s tongue left him he made a sound or protest, lazily rolling onto his back and looking up at his mate. John was smiling at him like butter wouldn’t melt but Randy could see in his eyes that he was pleased that he had obviously managed to provide Randy with some pleasure. “Do you need-“he started but John shook his head, merely taking off his own boxers and removing the last of the oil residue off of them before throwing them aside too before then getting underneath the covers alongside Randy and holding him close. “Later,” John murmured, “I’m Ok.” That had been for Randy, his own need hardly being to the degree where he couldn’t push it aside for later.

He could sense Randy’s surprise and didn’t blame him for it; it wasn’t often that he said no to Randy after all, but right then it seemed inconsequential. Besides, once this was all over John didn’t intend to let Randy out of their bedroom for a month at the very least. They dropped off into rest fairly easily, though the proof that both of their subconscious were unable to rest came with the fact that they seemed to be awakening mere moments later, sensing that the sun was still up outside but being completely safe from its harmful rays because of the carefully reinforced covering on the windows. John mumbled, pressing his face into Randy’s chest.

_He didn’t want to get up._

~:~

It occurred to Ted, as he was watching the large TV on the wall, catching up on some old cartoons (he wasn’t exactly in the mood to watch TV but he couldn’t read anymore, and he supposed something light-hearted was better than anything heavy) as he waited for the sun to go down, that he was thinking a lot recently. Not that he had ever been some brain-dead idiot before he had gotten back with Cody again, but you get the point. He was also getting used to waking up around lunchtime/early-ish in the afternoon, and whenever he woke up he made a point of checking what time the sun was going to set each evening.

Looking at Cody’s still form, Ted touched his index and middle fingers to his neck, feeling for his pulse the way that he recalled being taught back in school when you went through the healthy-learning phase. There, as he had expected, was the steady _bump-bump_ beat of his blood pumping beneath the surface. Glancing back to Cody’s unmoving form Ted then reached a hand out before hesitating; he knew that Cody wouldn’t awaken at least for another forty-five minutes but he still always had that fear that one day he’d touch the other and he’d pop up, thinking he was being attacked or something. He finally brushed his thumb over Cody’s lips.

They were cool, as he had come to expect now, and Ted exhaled a breath. _What was he thinking?_ But, he couldn’t get it out of his mind… what _blood_ apparently did for the species that Cody now was. He recalled the way Evan had been once he had fed from Chris, and he’d seen how Randy had recovered when feeding from John. What had he read? _‘A mate’s blood is much more concentrated and potent than any other source, whether that source is fresh and live or not.’_ Chris had told him there was a chance that Cody would not be involved in the coup against Dave, but a part of Ted had the bad feeling that that wouldn’t be the case… they’d need all the hands they could.

He didn’t like it, but he acknowledged it, and that was what had led him to wonder… if Cody fed from him, would he become stronger somehow? The thought was terrifying and complex in equal measure; a part of him shied away like a wild horse, demanding what the hell he was thinking of, whereas another part--- the other part _really_ wanted to know what it _felt_ like to be fed from, to _know_ that he had helped Cody somehow since he had been essentially told that he was no good for anything else regarding this situation. Sighing, Ted gently retracted his hand and then shifted so that his head was lying on Cody’s chest, an arm around his statuesque lover’s middle.

Squeezing slightly Ted closed his eyes and took the time just to enjoy Cody’s –albeit now rather chilly- presence, and his scent. The sudden sensation of someone moving around slightly underneath him was what first alerted Ted to the fact that something was off, and he bolted upright in surprise without thinking. Cody shot upright himself, concern burning in his deep blue hues, “Teddy, Teddy, what is it?” Ted placed a hand over his chest, feeling his heart pounding underneath his ribcage. The fact that his eyes were closed meant that he completely missed the way that Cody bit his lip, nostrils flaring slightly at the sudden increased speed of Ted’s blood.

“Nothing,” Ted said softly once he had managed to get his breath back again, “I’m sorry… it’s nothing, nothing…” he laughed wanly and looked back to Cody, “I guess I didn’t notice that I fell asleep again, sorry…” he hung his head slightly; he always made an effort to be awake when Cody was. Confused, Cody reached and rubbed Ted’s shoulder the movement slightly hesitant but only because of the fact that he still had to focus on controlling his urges regarding to use his influential powers to convince Ted to give him his blood. He’d _never_ dream of _ever_ doing that to Ted, and the fact that he wanted to, even though it wasn’t _him_ exactly, was terrifying for the young vampire.

“Cody…?” Ted swallowed after a moment, looking down at his hands where his fingers were linked together and then back up to Cody. The dark haired vampire cocked his head to the side, question in his eyes. For a moment Ted visibly hesitated and Cody knew well enough that there was something on his lover’s mind even if they weren’t considered to be _as_ connected as the other couples in the house because they weren’t bonded. “Yeah?” Cody prompted gently when Ted continued to hesitate. Gently, but with enough force to lift Ted off of the bed and to his lap, Cody shifted his lover and then rubbed his side gently, “You can tell me anything, remember?” he murmured gently.

“I know…” Ted looked down at Cody’s chest even as his hands reached for Cody’s, curling their fingers through the others in a supporting gesture, “But this is… something I don’t think you’re going to like, and that I am admittedly not sure on how to say…” and it wasn’t anything to do with the fact that they had been apart and suddenly opening up to Cody was an issue--- though he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a teensy bit of hesitancy in the back of his mind for that kind of thing just in case. “How could I be angry with you?” Cody asked, genuinely confused. Even when he and Ted had fought in the past he had never, ever been _really angry_ with the other man.

For a moment Ted went quiet again and this time Cody merely waited; he knew that if he pushed too far and too much with Ted then the other would clam up on him… and if it was something important they didn’t exactly have the time to set aside for waiting for the other to open up to him naturally. And, sure enough, Ted seemed to finally psyche himself enough to say what he wanted to say. Leaning back slightly (and inadvertently causing Cody to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from making a sound at the knowledge that Ted’s perfect ass was so close, especially since the motion wasn’t supposed to be teasing in any way) Ted then locked his eyes on Cody’s seriously.

“I want you to feed from me,” Ted said, and the words seemed to reverberate through the room, echoing almost. Cody was so still that was it not for the fact that his eyes were open still Ted might have thought he was still resting. The longer Cody remained unmoving, and unspeaking, the more Ted’s anxiety increased, but he refused to take the words back or move away. _He was serious about this,_ and he _wasn’t_ going to just let Cody brush this off because of some delicacy issue or something. Finally, a thought struck Ted and something in his heart flinched at the consideration, “Is…” his lip trembled slightly, “Is my blood not good enough or something?”


	12. To Give You All I Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody's self-control can only hold out so long when Ted makes an offer like that...

Cody blinked slowly a couple of times and raised a hand to cup the back of Ted’s neck, wondering if his lover would notice that it was shaking slightly. “Don’t think like that Teddy, that’s not it – it’s the opposite that’s the problem…” He wasn’t being very articulate and that wasn’t helped by the fact he’d had to actively fight against his teeth since the words had been spoken, his fangs were trying to make an appearance and every animal instinct he had screamed _what are you waiting for?_ Other instincts were stronger though, the ones where he wanted to protect his mate – and he had no doubts in his heart that was what Ted was to him and always had been, even though they hadn’t called it that when they were human – and there was too much at stake for him to go into this lightly.

“You’re everything to me,” he said in the end, his eyes meeting Ted’s. “You always were. You’re the reason that Randy turned me at all, I don’t know if you realise that – I wasn’t scared lying there, I wasn’t angry so much, I was just… grieving. I had so much sorrow that I was leaving you. I’d do anything to keep you safe Teddy and that means keeping you safe from _me_.”

Ted’s expression was hurt and uncomprehending but Cody didn’t let his eyes wander because he was pretty sure his gaze would go straight to the neck and that might just break his tenuous hold on himself. He _wanted_ to feed from Ted, so badly that he could almost _taste_ how it would be. And knowing that how he imagined would be nothing compared to reality only made him want it more. He didn’t think he could resist if Ted insisted and he had to let Ted know just what it was he was letting himself in for.

“You’d be weakened Ted,” he continued quietly. “You’d be suffering blood loss and that makes you cold, and tired and weak and this is not the time for you to be anything like that. You’ve not been good to yourself lately Ted—“ His free hand trailed over Ted’s bicep, noting that his lover had become more muscular since they had been apart but thinner and had lost his ability to smile as readily. He suspected that working out might have become something of an escape for Ted, he always went for some kind of exercise when he was worried or to ease his stress and there must have been enough of that since Cody had died. “I don’t know that we’ve undone two years in a few days.”

Ted’s jaw set. “If I’m weakened then there’s less chance I’ll come out looking for you.”

“Ted, you promised—“

“I know and I wasn’t lying. But you know me and how I worry and you know how hard it’s gonna be if you’re out there.”

Cody nodded slowly. Yeah, he knew. He knew that even now Ted would throw himself under a moving car rather than let it hit Cody, even knowing that it could kill him while Cody would be relatively unscathed. That was Ted and he knew that promise or no, Ted would be very likely to be unable to sit in the house all night and wait for news. And what if they had to go further afield and hole up away from the manor for the day? Ted would go _franti_ c

“Feeding from you isn’t going to make you safer,” he said , thinking it wasn’t like Ted to resort to blackmail but then again, Ted would use any weapon he had when he thought that it would get him his own way or protect his lover and when it came to Cody, Ted rarely had to use blackmail of any kind. It was rare that Cody wouldn’t give him anything it was in his power to give. “Quite the opposite. And that’s not even the whole of it—“

He didn’t want to admit to weakness of his own, he _didn’t_ , but this was Ted and Ted had always known every single one of his flaws and loved him for them anyway. Ted had a way of making him feel that his faults weren’t really faults when looked at from another angle, Ted had always managed to reassure him when he felt he wasn’t good enough in any way. But this one, this could really harm what they had gotten back for themselves.

“You’re my soulmate Teddy,” he said softly. “And you always have been. It wasn’t wise of me, it wasn’t _right_ of me to want you back after I’d been changed, but I’m selfish and you know that. I wanted you back so _bad_ Teddy and right now, this is the best time for me since that night. When I wake up and you’re next to me, awake but _there_ and not leaving, I never can believe it’s true and I’m not still dreaming. And when it is, I feel like – I can’t describe it. It’s true happiness, it’s more like elation. Ha, I don’t know that there’s even a word to say how it is. I love you.”

“So why won’t you let me—“

“Hush.” Cody leaned up a little so he could give Ted a close-mouthed kiss – the fangs were momentarily under control but he knew that wouldn’t last if he were to feel Ted’s tongue against them. “Our kind, we can use sheep whenever we need to and feed from them, and I’m told it’s a more uh, heady source than the blood from packets. But it’s not the same as with a mate. Their blood is the ultimate. It’s a rush, like a drug. I have no idea how I’d be affected either.”

“I know what I’ve been told,” replied Ted in a quiet but firm voice that Cody recognised; Ted was giving a simple statement of how things were going to be and he’d very rarely been able to form an argument that counteracted one Ted made when he spoke like that. “And what I read in that book there. Your mates blood makes you faster, more alert. The book says it gives a sense of well-being and confidence and I’ve seen for myself, it makes wounds heal faster. Evan and Randy both, when I saw them once they’d fed from their mates they seemed calmer and – I dunno, more centred I guess. If you’re gonna be out there against that monster tonight, then I need to know you’ve got everything you can have that’ll protect you and if that means a part of me, then _take it_.”

Cody growled in response to what was almost an order, completely involuntarily, then slapped a hand over his mouth. Where the hell had _that_ noise come from? But he didn’t really need to question it, he knew damned well that Ted offering himself in such a way was bringing something he’d been trying to suppress close to the surface, something animal and greedy that cared nothing for long-term consequences, only immediate gratification. He struggled with himself a moment and when he trusted himself to speak, did so. “Baby – you saw the look that ‘Taker gave us last night. He doesn’t think we should be out there and that means I’ll still be here. There’s no need for me to be prepared when I’m not gonna be put in any danger.”

“I don’t care _what_ Taker did last night,” replied Ted and a little frustration entered his voice. “Randy’s gonna want all he has to take this guy on. I doubt he’d put Evan in that situation and more likely he’ll want someone left behind here anyway since I’ll still be around. But he’d want someone who could lure Dave out, who might be a weaker target and one that he knows would hurt him and _you’re_ the youngest of his children, not Evan. He’d want you to be the one to pull Dave out of hiding and that means you going along with them tonight.”

“That’s so cynical—“

Ted shrugged. “Maybe, but you have to remember that Randy needs to deal with this. It’s gonna be a risk regardless and to minimise risks, he’s gotta take the chance somewhere. After you, it’s Chris and I don’t think he’s nearly as good a bet. Alone he couldn’t take Dave on but he’s not as inexperienced as you, not by a long shot and he doesn’t _look_ anywhere near as vulnerable.”

Cody didn’t like the thought that he might look vulnerable to a predator but he could understand where Ted was coming from, although he had never been able to think in quite the same militaristic fashion. It occurred to him that Ted should probably have been a military strategist or something along those lines. He seemed damned sure that Dave would fall easily into a trap like the one he had described.

“If I did that though – what if you’re wrong? What if he comes here while we’re out there looking for him? I’d be leaving _you_ completely vulnerable.”

“Let’s face it,” returned Ted sombrely. “If I’m wrong and he shows up here instead, then it doesn’t matter if I’ve got every drop of blood in my body. He can outrun me, outfight me, he could snap me in half before I even know he’s nearby.”

Cody winced.  
  
“So that’s just a chance we can afford to take. I can’t escape if he comes for me and you know it, it doesn’t matter if you’ve fed or not. But if he comes for you instead – then it _does_ make a difference. It’d make a difference to _you_. It could make you stronger. And Cody – I _hate_ that I can’t do anything to protect you. I swore that I would and I failed once and I _don’t_ want to fail again. If this is all that I can do, then I want to do it! If I can do this it’d make me feel better and it really, really could help you.”

“Teddy—“ Cody could feel his barriers being broken down and the thought that Ted wouldn’t be able to help himself should the manor come under attack made him all the more determined that they should take Dave out, tonight or at least as soon as they could. The trouble with that was that it made him want to be as strong and ready as he could manage and that of course meant feeding – and for optimum strength feeding on his mate, who was sat in his lap giving him permission. All he had to do was press his lips to Ted’s neck and he would be able to _feed_ …

“I never fed off anyone before,” he said rapidly. “Not _anyone_ , not really. Randy let me take from him—“ And he _knew_ he hadn’t imagined the territorial anger that flashed through Ted’s eyes at the revelation. “But only from his wrist, I only drank from there even though it was when I was first turned and John wasn’t in the picture. It felt like being unfaithful otherwise…” He bit his lip to stop his mouth from autowriting the things he probably shouldn’t admit to and his fangs, which he’d been losing against in the last couple of minutes, made small cuts on his lip. That didn’t happen so often since managing them was one of the first thing they learned when they were turned – even so, it could be a real struggle sometimes. The damned things seemed to have a life of their own at times.

“I might not be able to control myself,” he admitted ashamedly. “Ted, you don’t seem to realise that I’m not some, some tame vampire who can’t hurt you. I _can_ and just because I don’t mean to doesn’t mean I’ll be able to stop myself. I might take too much. You might hate how it feels, I might not seal your wounds right, I might have to call someone in here because I fucked up and fuck Teddy, I can do whatever’s needed without your blood but I can’t live with myself if I hurt you or if you hate me—“

“Hush,” replied Ted, echoing Cody’s earlier words, not sounding at all afraid of what Cody had said. He brought his hands to either side of Cody’s face, caressing his cheeks lightly as he closed the small gap between them and kissed Cody slowly. “I trust you. This is natural to you, right? You’ll know how far to go, you’ll know when to stop, you’ll know what you’re doing. I trust you baby and I want you to feed from me. I want you to feed.”

His lips pressed to Cody’s again and then his tongue darted out, the tip swiping over the wound made by one of Cody’s teeth. Cody gave a helpless whine at the gesture, completely unable to stop his fangs crowding his mouth this time – _this_ was what the others had mentioned when it came to being fed from, how sharing their blood was integral to their species. Ted was hardly feeding but just knowing that Ted could taste his blood on his lips was an incredible feeling, protective, sexual and submissive all at the same time. His hand tightened in Ted’s hair and then Ted was kissing him properly, Cody parting his lips to allow Ted to plunder his mouth, tongue caressing his fangs. Peculiar to their species was sensation in those teeth alone and Cody made that same sound again, pulling Ted closer to him, all thought of restraint or denial swamped by Ted’s nearness and willingness.

Ted shifted slowly (and Cody felt _deliberately_ ) on his lap and Cody felt himself respond to the action, his erection pressing against Ted’s ass and only their boxers separating them. It reminded Cody of just how long it had been for both of them but he simply hadn’t dared to even consider rekindling the sexual side of their relationship no matter how much he wanted it and the sight of his fiancé still filled him with the kind of lust that did not want to be denied. He was too strong now, too fast and although he knew that Chris and Evan had somehow managed to get by, Chris was an awful lot older than he was and more in control of himself. Cody couldn’t trust his own inexperience when the love of his life was the one who would be suffering should he lose complete control of himself… as he was doing right then. A voice in his head told him that he shouldn’t be allowing Ted to persuade him the way that he had but it was no good, desire drowned out any objections from his psyche.

But he couldn’t have denied Ted anything in that moment, not anything. Cody didn’t have to breathe but he could hear the way Ted’s breath was becoming shorter, his increased heartbeat that overwhelmed any other noises there might have been, he could scent Ted’s desire and feel it pressed against his stomach. And he could smell the blood beneath the surface, rich and warm and _living_ , the elixir that would allow him to possess Ted in the way he so desperately wanted.

_Just a little_ he told himself as Ted broke the kiss, darkened blue eyes meeting Cody’s with unspoken permission to _take_. Cody’s nostrils flared as he moved his head to Ted’s neck, Ted moving his head aside to allow access to the inviting expanse of skin and the vein beneath. Cody felt his barely-needed breath catch as he heard Ted’s heartbeat suddenly speed up even further, the only sign of any kind of fear Ted might have had. He paused for barely a second but the scent of the blood and the sound of Ted’s heartbeat were conspiring to drive him wild and Ted never wavered in offering himself. He couldn’t hold himself back; Cody pressed his lips to Ted’s neck, let his tongue taste the skin and feel the pulse beneath, then his instincts took over and he let his fangs slide into the flesh.

Ted immediately stiffened in his arms and let out a moan that was only partially pained. There was nothing that Cody could do about that though; he was… lost. Lost in the taste of his lover’s blood, warm life flowing over his tongue. He made an inarticulate sound of his own and allowed the blood to run down his throat, becoming increasingly aware of how _vital_ he felt suddenly, like feeding after an abstinence but raised to a much higher level than any packet could ever achieve. He couldn’t understand how he had managed to do without this or to argue that he didn’t need it, this was _life_ and he _needed more…_

Ted gradually relaxed further into his embrace, giving a contented sigh that had no pain at all in it. Cody caressed his hair, supporting his position and continuing to feed more languidly after the initial heady rush that had hit him so hard, completely aware of his lovers body against his own and how there was no sign of Ted fighting against him, the warm scent of Ted’s skin and the sound of his heart beating…

… _slower_ …

A sudden spike of panic went through Cody and he withdrew his fangs with an effort that belied his fear, tongue tracing over the wound he had left. He moved back to look at the mark, a barely acknowledged feeling of territorial pride running through him at the sight of the punctures and the rapidly forming bruise that was almost overwhelmed by the weirdness of knowing Ted should still be bleeding freely from the holes he had left and yet they were already scabbing over.

Ted was lax in his arms and Cody effortlessly moved the other so that he was lying on the bed, Cody leaning over him and staring into Ted’s face with some concern. But Ted didn’t seem as if he was terribly injured. His eyes were half-mast and slightly unfocused, his movements slow but he was looking back at Cody.

And he was smiling.

_Mine, my mate_ his mind insisted even as he did a lightning fast check of his lover’s well-being. Ted had most definitely been affected, he seemed tired and weakened just as Cody had predicted that he would be but he hadn’t lost consciousness and he didn’t seem in any imminent danger of doing so. Cody hadn’t taken too much, as had been his real terror when it came to feeding from Ted. And he could _feel_ Ted, his blood running through Cody’s veins and giving him a sensation that was so sharp as to be almost terrifying, everything around him seeming more there, more _real_ – but his attention was solely on Ted.

_I want—_

He tried to close off that side of his mind – he was already so close to losing anything like control that he was potentially very dangerous indeed, only his love for the other holding him off taking all that he could give. But having given in to one need there was another making itself known, desire, knowing that he had already had Ted in one way and could have him in another without resistance, with active want on the part of his fiancé.

But his check had shown him that Ted was still achingly hard even now, whatever blood Cody hadn’t taken devoted to one part of his anatomy, the scent of desire driving Cody wild with need. And although it wasn’t bonding, it was a long way from bonding, the feeding seemed to have given Cody some feeling of what Ted was feeling and right then, he knew that Ted was feeling horny as hell.

_Take him. Claim him as yours._

He couldn’t go that far, not when he had just weakened Ted to the extent that he had. He was too close to losing himself and he couldn’t give in to what he wanted just then in case his control slipped and he did Ted an injury – and the way he was feeling, that was likely. But he wasn’t about to let his lover go neglected and he’d just tasted Ted, he tasted of _life_ and he wanted more…

Ted felt slightly woozy, disassociated from reality, as if he’d missed three or four days sleep. He was wise enough to know it was because he had allowed Cody to feed from him and it wasn’t as if he could merely replace what he had lost as Cody would be able to but he didn’t regret it for a moment. It wasn’t a bad feeling at all. It was dreamlike, contented – although he suspected the _contentment_ wasn’t from how he felt then but because he’d had Cody feed from him, given himself in the most fundamental way he could and perhaps ensured his safety.

Cody had given him an odd look as he lay him back on the bed but Ted didn’t have the energy to be too alarmed by it. He wasn’t aware of Cody’s internal struggle or his train of thought, everything going through his fiancés mind faster than human speed. He had no idea that Cody had realised just how much the feeding had affected him (and perhaps later on he would worry that it made him strange or perverted but right then he was just happy with the aftermath) until a hand went to the waistband of his boxers. He had time to register that Cody’s hands were far warmer than he had been used to and then the fabric was torn roughly from his body, giving him a hint of just how much Cody had been affected as well. A slight frisson of unease went through him – he was well aware he was in no state for anything rough or intense and he knew that when Cody did allow that final barrier between them to drop, it would be both. It wasn’t his safety he was concerned for though, it was that something might have changed between them and Cody would realise that they couldn’t be with one another anymore, that Ted simply wasn’t able to keep up with him, that he was too fragile in comparison, that he had been wrong about them being soul mates…

And then Cody’s kissed the tip of his cock before his lips wrapped around Ted’s shaft and all thoughts of what may or may not be were wiped from his mind. Ted’s back arched, hands going to the back of Cody’s head to urge him to stay right where he was. It had been a _damned_ long time since he had been touched there by anyone but himself and that person had been Cody. There was a moment where he thought he might simply come before there had been anything more than that light touch but after a moment of internal struggle he managed to hold himself back – for a while at least.

Cody had no thoughts of holding back however; he slid his mouth over Ted until the tip of Ted’s cock hit the back of his throat, making a growling sound as he did – there was one definite advantage to not having to breathe and it was that giving a blow job suddenly became a whole lot simpler. Supporting himself on one elbow, he sucked mercilessly at Ted’s cock, revelling in every moan and how weakness seemed to have been forgotten as his hips undulated against Cody’s mouth. Cody’s other hand slid down his own abs until he reached his boxers, ripping them in the desperation to take himself in hand. He needed to give something to his lover in return for the gift he had been given but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t just as needy for his own release and his needs were such that if he were to go to Ted with them, he could do some harm.

Ted managed to push himself up enough that he could see Cody, those pouting lips wrapped around his cock, see himself reappearing before sliding into Cody’s mouth once more. As a human Cody ad looked so fucking hot with his lips around Ted’s cock.

He still did.

Cody ran his tongue very deliberately up the underside of Ted’s cock before giving a particularly hard suck, his hand moving over himself so hard and fast that he was sure that to human eyes it would be a blur. That was all it took for Ted; his head fell back and his hips arched up, fucking Cody’s mouth as he came _hard_ , crying out to the ceiling loudly enough that the other vampires in the house, with their acute sense of hearing, had to have caught it. The taste of Ted flooded his mouth again, different to feeding from him but just as potent and Cody swallowed every last drop, allowing himself to fall over the edge with his lover. Warm release coated his stomach but he never stopped sucking at Ted, cleaning off everything he could until he felt the other softening in his mouth, the trembling running through his limbs.

Cody felt as if his heart should be pounding, but that of course was impossible – and yet he felt something, a connection with Ted that had been far more tentative even when they had woken. He slid up Ted’s body, anxiously looking into his face, concerned that he had gone too far even with that. But Ted was smiling, clearly sated and apparently wiped out.

Leaning in, Cody gave Ted a slow and very thorough kiss, his lover responding in kind. Their arms went around one another and they lay there, chest to chest, for long minutes. Cody pressed butterfly kisses to Ted’s face, very aware of the slow beating of Ted’s heart and steady, even breathing. Ted was not as warm as he usually was and Cody felt a pang of guilt, he had stolen Ted’s heat from him.

“Thank you,” he said eventually.

Ted’s eyes had been closed, but they opened at Cody’s words and the small smile on his face grew a little. “You’re more than welcome,” he replied but the words seemed something of an effort.

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Cody didn’t want to move for the rest of the night, he wanted to be _there_ with Ted, in their own cocoon with nothing to distract them but it couldn’t happen, if he didn’t help his clan then there would be no peace ever again, no long nights spent in Ted’s arms. Reluctantly he moved from Ted’s embrace to the end of the bed, considering a shower but his mind rebelling against the idea. He didn’t want to stop smelling Ted if what the man said Randy would do was true and if the others noticed and took the piss, then he could deal with that. Ted’s scent would be his own personal talisman against evil.

He went to the bathroom and washed the evidence of his release from his stomach, knowing that much had transferred to Ted’s body and feeling a little smug at the thought. After that he dressed quickly, noting that Ted had his eyes closed and couldn’t be freaked out by his speed – although when he sat on the edge of the bed and rested a hand on Ted’s face, Ted opened his eyes and looked a little unnerved at seeing Cody already fully dressed anyway.

“Stay here baby,” he said softly. “Keep warm – keep covered up, you’ll be cold otherwise.” Wasn’t chill a symptom of blood loss? “Rest. I’ll be back up in a while to let you know what’s going on and what we’re doing but rest in the meantime, okay?”

Ted nodded, smiling a little as Cody leaned in to kiss him and then stood up. It wasn’t until he walked out of the room that he realised Ted hadn’t even tried to argue with him. There was something about that, wasn’t there? That they could feed from someone and then suggest it had all been in their heads – humans were far more receptive when they had been fed from. Perhaps that was it, or perhaps it was that Ted had been weakened, or maybe Ted simply trusted Cody enough to defer to him on this one. Whatever the reason, Cody felt like he could take Dave on and rip off his head without breaking a sweat. He felt strong, _good_. And although they might be walking directly into the worst danger he had faced since he had been changed, he felt completely contented.


	13. Settling The Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clan rallies themselves for the deadly mission lying ahead.

Unsurprisingly, when Randy was at his side the second he arrived downstairs Cody merely stood there and allowed his sire to scrutinise him. No-one would be able to doubt the effect that feeding from Ted had had on Cody, though Randy would be lying if he said he had expected like something like this may have happened earlier… he and Cody had had a _long_ chat about what would happen if he ever fed from Ted and went too far. It was that talk that had spurred Cody into being so, so careful.

“So…” Randy arched a brow and Cody tilted his chin back; the gesture wasn’t exactly defiant, but Randy surmised from it that Cody was neither regretful nor sorry for what had happened, and Randy could hear Ted’s steady heart-beat upstairs, sensing no distress from the human. If anything the beating he could focus on upstairs was slow, easy, as though the human was asleep. “You’re late,” he then chided lightly, giving his child’s hair a small ruffle Randy then waited for Cody to precede him into the kitchen where everyone was gathered. Everyone was dressed in casual ensembles of jeans, t-shirts and hoodies… and Cody pretended not to know just _why_ that was.

Everyone’s eyes were focused upon him and Randy sighed, clearly torn between irritation and amusement. “Alright,” he waved a hand and leant against the counter, “Have at it.” Cody could have protested –it wasn’t fair that Randy was setting everyone on him- but at the same time he would much rather get it out of the way in one so that they could focus on what was _necessary_ right then. “So you _did_ feed off of him?” Hunter smirked and turned to Adam, extending a hand, “Fork it over, Copeland.” Adam huffed and glowered at Cody lightly as he pulled a $20 note from his pocket and passed it across, “Why the hell did you have to fuck him so soon?”

Had Cody been able to blush then he would have been crimson then, “I _didn’t_ have sex with him!” he protested and Adam whooped before snatching his money back from Hunter, “The bet was that they’d fucked, so ha!” Hunter scowled and Cody rolled his eyes at them; it was a good job they were like brothers to him or he’d be attempting to kick their fangs down their throats right then for being so cheeky about Ted. Evan approached him and Cody squeezed his friend’s hand when Evan’s fingers brushed his. There was nothing _sexual_ or _coupley intimate_ in the gesture; it was a gesture of kinship and affection between the two--- proven by how Chris didn’t even stir at it.

“He told me to do it,” Cody explained, knowing that Evan had been as worried for him as he had since he’d been the only one Cody had dared confess his fears too concerning what might happen were he to get Ted back again—of course he meant that as in the human-to-vampire-sense. “He said he _wanted_ me to feed off of him, because he’s seen what feeding does to us…” he didn’t need to voice out the ‘mate’ part because he knew they could all fill in that blank without him being the one to do it. He was well aware the others were all listening in but didn’t much care; they would all find out eventually and it wasn’t as though he had reason to be ashamed of it.

Evan exhaled a small breath and then smiled at him before poking Cody’s flat stomach playfully, “Don’t get greedy though--- if his blood affects you like this you’ll become a porker in no time.” Cody chuckled and gave Evan a small push before looking back to Randy, suddenly curious. He didn’t know whether it was actually possible to gain weight or anything like that for a physical change once they had passed, he assumed that you would stay the same. The only thing he could really base that on though was the fact that Chris told me everyone had attempted to cut Adam’s hair one night, and it had grown back to its original length by the next night.

“If we’re all finished?” Randy then inputted. Even though his tone was mild there was an undercurrent of undeniable firmness there and Cody moved to seat himself next to Shawn at his usual space as Evan headed back to his own chair by Chris--- only to be transferred to his elder lover’s lap mere milliseconds later. Though the dark haired vampire rolled his eyes he merely settled his arms over Chris and rested his head against his blonde lover’s when the older man nestled his chin onto his shoulder. Randy looked to John before he began speaking, and John nodded slightly, sending him a small but genuine smile, reassuring him once again.

A conscious effort had been made by John to prove to Randy that he was more than ready to do what was needed to take Dave out of the equation--- but it hadn’t quite been enough to make Randy refrain from bending over the foot of the bed and taking him until his knees weakened and making him swear complete devotion to Randy. John knew that Randy wasn’t trying to _dominate_ him the way that Dave had, though there was obviously dominance in such an action, but more like he just wanted to reassure himself of his position in John’s life. Meeting the man’s sire, and knowing just _who_ that sire was had probably shaken Randy up just that little bit more.

“We need to lure him away from any humans,” Randy started without preamble. This was something he had discussed with John –after their interlude before- and it seemed like the most fundamental point. They might be considered soulless monsters by Hollywood and its ensuing masses but Randy never had, and never would, allow hard to befall humans on his territory when he could have prevented it. He was actually slightly surprised in a way, that there had been no suspicious deaths of missing persons in the area recently, because it begged to differ the question as to _how_ Dave had been feeding throughout his _visit_.

He wasn’t exactly known for subtlety and neatness after all. Cody shifted slightly in his seat, sitting upright a little more; he had to see whether Randy was going to include him or not. If he didn’t then Ted’s blood would have been given to him needlessly (not as in he didn’t _need_ or _want_ it obviously, but in terms of it actually _doing_ something for him) and he’d feel horribly guilty for that. He wasn’t exactly keen about throwing himself into danger but if he needed to be there for his clan brothers and to provide some obstacle between Ted and that bastard Dave, then he would do it. Randy looked contemplative for a moment before then looking to Evan.

Though it was obvious that he had been expecting that he was going to be left out of this endeavour he didn’t look pleased about it… apparently he wanted some revenge of his own for the injuries that Dave had given him, though not one man there could doubt that Chris wouldn’t _really_ try to make Dave pay for it if he got a chance at the older vampire. “Will you watch over the house for us? And Ted?” Evan huffed a small breath and nodded; it wasn’t that he was opposed to keeping an eye on his new clan-brother, but more that he was once again seemingly being deemed as a liability. He wasn’t _completely_ helpless, damn it!

Chris rubbed his mate’s back lightly, obviously sensing how Evan was feeling, and Evan reclined back into him. When Randy’s gaze then turned to him Cody blinked, unsure exactly what Randy would need to say to him. “Are you sure you’re up for this?” he asked, and though Cody could have been offended by the question he knew what had brought it about: he had never actually _had_ to get in a fight before recently, and (as had been shown in the way that he’d attempted to fight back on odds of three-to-one against some thugs) he’d never exactly been used to confrontations of the physical sort back when he had been human. “I’m ready,” he responded firmly.

Deep in his system he could feel Ted’s blood integrating with his own, further supplementing that feeling from before that told him he could hurt Dave. He could hurt him and make him repent for what he had done to Evan, and to John, and most importantly, the threats he had alluded to referring to _Ted_. Apparently Randy saw nothing in his eyes, or didn’t sense any conflicting emotions from him, and so he merely nodded. Evan made a sound of protest, probably instinctively and concernedly, but he was shushed by Chris immediately and Randy made no motion to acknowledge it; he couldn’t afford to be soft on his children this time.

And it was for _their_ sakes as much as anything. Asking for help was not something that had ever come to Randy easily and so the fact that he was actively seeking his children’s support and aid really spoke volumes to them all. John touched his mate’s thigh underneath the cover of the table and Randy’s hand rested atop John’s, linking their fingers together. He could still feel the small pulse from John’s emotions from his thigh-- where he had bitten John to feed before their love-making. Taking straight from the femoral artery was as sexual as feeding could be before the actual act of sex occurred. Had he had the time he would have exploited those lingering feelings.

But, sadly, they didn’t, and they really needed to get moving. Adam was the one to voice what had actually been Randy’s next question--- but to John, directly, whereas Adam addressed their group at large, “But how the hell will we know where he is?” The expression on John’s face immediately became closed at the question and momentarily a scent of unease filled the group. “Wherever there’s access to booze and gambling you’ll find him,” John’s tone was frighteningly steely, his lip curling back in a snarl. No one else knew that Dave had had a habit, once at least even if it wasn’t true now, that he would rob his victims and then go gambling with their money.

Christian, even the logical one, pointed out, “We should go to the plaza then--- that’s the most concentrated area of hotels, clubs and casinos.” It was an area that was unmistakable in the middle of town because of the sheer bustle and hubbub attached to it, something that seemed completely at odds with a lot of the town as they were more rustic than rural. “It’s the most likely bet,” John conceded, especially since none of them knew where Dave had been staying since he had arrived in the area. It wasn’t as though they could wait to ambush him as he returned to his lodgings. “Where are we going to…?” Cody started to ask, biting his lip after a moment’s hesitation.

Despite being under no illusions that they _were_ acting for the best interests of _everyone_ in the long term, Cody was still struggling to actually adjust to the idea that they were going to be _killing_ someone. Even if that someone was a murdering bastard himself. No one mocked him for his hesitation though; none of them would ever be so blasé about the taking of a life because they had been ‘brought up’ to understand the importance of it. “There’s an old warehouse right on the outskirts of the old factory way,” Shawn spoke up this time, “It’s been abandoned for weeks, the hobos don’t even use it… it’s so out of the way that we should be able to…”

Randy nodded and rested his chin against his fist, going still for several long moments. Though they couldn’t risk wasting too much time preparing they couldn’t risk themselves rushing in unprepared at the same time… it was a delicate balance alright, and what he was thinking about was important indeed. “I…” he growled quietly and glanced at John, his eyes revealing how unhappy he was with the thought he had just had, “I doubt he’ll come after just _anyone_ will he?” John shook his head looking somewhat apologetic even though it was hardly his fault. Dave might be strong but when given the choice of an easy target over one who might fight...

Well, he’d pick the easy one every time. And the only one who could be considered the easy target of their group, even over Evan, despite the fact that Evan was the one being told to stay behind, was Cody. _Just like Ted had said,_ Cody thought to himself. Funnily enough though he doubted that Ted would be pleased to be proved right on this occasion. “I won’t let Cody go it alone,” John said suddenly, causing everyone’s head to snap back towards them. “John--!” Randy started but John shook his head--- and for the first time the sense of awareness surrounded the group. The awareness of a sire over children, albeit he was not their direct sire, but they felt it.

Ordinarily Randy and John would never clash like this, but Randy’s fangs were bared and his nostrils were flaring as the thought of John attempting to ‘pull rank on him’ as the old army bodies sometimes called it. “I’m not letting him go alone,” John repeated, and the children in the room bowed their heads as John’s unspoken command resonated around them--- though to their shock it actually forced Randy to sit back in his seat, though it was obvious he was trying to fight it. John then turned to Cody and asked quietly, “Are you ready?” Cody hesitated, looking between his sire and grandsire before he nodded and stood up quickly.

“Ah—“in the hallway Cody swallowed before asking hastily, “John, can I just--- Ted? I promised I’d tell him what was going on…” he hesitated, suddenly unsure how to adjust to John when the man was showing his alpha-male side that was usually so carefully maintained. John’s expression softened somewhat and Cody immediately felt reassured by it. “Be quick,” he added, knowing he could only keep Randy bound by his will for so long. Cody nodded and did as he was bid, running up the stairs so fast his feet barely touched them, finding Ted sound asleep, curled up under the covers. It seemed his first feeding had taken more out of him than even he had realised.

Despite knowing that Ted would probably be angry with him later for not awaking him Cody just didn’t have the heart to do so; his lover needed to rest and conserve his energy. Scribbling a quick note to Ted, with the plea for the other to take it easy and not do anything rash, Cody then placed the note on the pillow beside Ted’s head and then made his way down to John. Mere moments later they were inside of Cody’s car, once again using that because it was just slightly less conspicuous than John’s own, and something that would be easier to manage were they in need of a high-speed chase, and a getaway after. “I won’t let anything happen to you Cody, I promise.”

Even though he hadn’t known John too long, or more accurately, he hadn’t known him _too well_ until recently, Cody could just tell that his grandsire, deep down, was still blaming himself for all of this. “I know you won’t,” he said without hesitation as he turned towards the plaza, seeing John’s eyes widen out of the corner of his eye as his head snapped around to face him. “It’s Ok, John,” Cody said. After all, out of them all, Randy and John were the ones who were more likely to receive Dave’s wrath; the chances were he’d just kill the rest of them to take them out of the equation, as though they were little more than some sort of pest as far as he was concerned.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Randy was fairly chomping at the bit to try and be free, John’s will still managing to keep him pinioned to the chair. Under other circumstances his children would probably have teased him mercilessly about the fact that he was being the one put in his place this time… but given their sire’s explosive rage they all acknowledged that that happening would probably lead to them having their tongues ripped out or something. When Randy was finally released from the chair they all rose too preparing to go out to the cars. Evan kissed Chris before he went, warning the blonde that he had best come back to him in one piece or else.

~::~

“Will the car be OK here?” John asked, and when Cody sent him a questioning look he elaborated, “Just in case that we can’t get back to it and need to go on foot.” Cody nodded; though full of ‘vice’ areas there was a surprising lack of trouble there so he doubted that something would happen to his car if he left it. “Come on,” John exited the car and locked it after himself and Cody before tossing Cody’s keys back to him. He could suddenly _sense_ Dave was there. Even when not bonded their kind could tell when others were near, though whether that person was friend or foe was generally an unknown measure unless, as in this instance, you already knew them.

“This one,” John said, lips turning down a little at the rather low-brow neon signs outside; a strip-club with a casino involved, perfect for Dave’s lascivious tastes. Cody hesitated slightly but then nodded and followed John in; he really hoped that Ted never found out about this, because his fiancé would surely be unhappy about it even though there was nothing he would like in there. Although, if Ted were to strip and do him a dance… _focus Rhodes!_ Shaking his head firmly Cody suddenly felt icy fingers trail down his spine, John tensing slightly next to him. “Hey—“the sudden hug that Cody found himself held in startled him greatly, loose in the hold.

It took Cody a moment to realise that John was transferring his scent to him. “Lead him outside to me at the car,” John said, getting an idea, “I’ll lead him away after that—“because if Dave sensed John in the area, even if Cody was there, John sadly had little reason to disbelieve that Dave would stay chasing Cody instead. “And you drive straight to the warehouse.” Seeing that Cody was going to protest John pressed a finger to his lips, “I’ll be fine…” he then ducked out of sight so fast that even Cody missed it… but he didn’t miss the almost _heavy_ weight of a set of eyes against his back, stiffening like a pointer-dog as he turned slowly.

There, glass of alcohol in hand, was Dave, just as John had said. It was odd to know exactly what to do… but then suddenly he realised something: Dave liked a chase. That was why John had said to run. Hoping that now the man had clocked on him he wouldn’t focus on anyone else, Cody turned and made his way back out of the ‘establishment’. He maintained a just-slightly-faster-than-human pace so as not to arouse too much suspicion as well as not leaving him completely vulnerable to Dave. The man seemed to be going at a human pace to his surprise, casually sauntering along in his open-necked shirt and his hands in his jean pockets, sunglasses present again.

When he hit the street he looked around for John and couldn’t see him. However, when he spotted the man suddenly cutting across the street up ahead of Cody was quick to hide himself inside of his car, starting the engine and setting off. He had just managed to get out of the plaza area when Dave suddenly hit the street… and if the look on his face was anything to go by he had realised that John was in the area. Cody sincerely hoped that John knew what he was doing--- and that Randy didn’t stake him for leaving John on his own even though it wasn’t as though Cody, or any of them, were in any position to be denying their grandsire anything.

John was careful to keep tabs on Cody until the younger man was safely out of sight (the one, in this instance good, thing about cars was that even though they could get a person’s scent in them if they were inside they couldn’t smell a person’s scent if they were outside of the car, meaning the Dave would have no idea where Cody was going) and then he cut across the street again most deliberately into what would be considered a dark alley. Not only did Dave like a chase but he had always liked isolating his prey the most--- even if he’d never exactly been one to care if he caused too much of a scene at the end of the day.

It didn’t take long for John to clock on to exactly when Dave got into his zone, as it were, and it was only when he’d cleared the alley and cut across a few ‘low-class’ housing estates that he allowed himself to get to his normal speed, breaking into a run. If a human had been watching they wouldn’t have been able to register him in the darkness; all they would have felt was a rush of wind if he passed close to them. Dave was behind him, close, but lagging slightly… and John had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew why that was. Dave might have outweighed him and had more height than him but they didn’t factor into vampire speed.

And that could only mean that he was attempting to prolong the chase. He wanted to enjoy himself, and have fun with it. _He’d always been a twisted son of a bitch,_ John thought as he ground his teeth, centring his weight forward and putting on a minor burst of speed. He knew all he had to do was clear through this woodland and then he would reach the compound of the warehouse--- he had seen it before when he had been wandering around the city before finding Randy again and so he had known where they meant as soon as it was mentioned. However, it seemed he had miscalculated somewhere along the line because suddenly he was being sent to the floor.

The snarl that left him was completely reflexive, but loud; the sound of a pinioned predator. It was so loud in fact that Randy and his clan heard it--- but Randy wouldn’t have needed to hear it to know that something was wrong, he would have been able to feel it through the sudden surge of panic that came from within him… but that he hadn’t personally conjured. _John was in danger_. Shooting his clan a look and a brisk, hissed command on, “Stay in your positions and be ready,” he took a run at the wall and cleared it in the same way a runner would clear hurdles. He’d barely touched the floor before he was running, sprinting to where he could sense John was.

Meanwhile, momentarily unawares that his mate was heading to his aid, John continued to scrap with Dave on the ground. There was lots of snapping and snarling, punches being thrown as they both rolled along the muddy ground. It had rained recently, John found himself noting in the back of his mind as mud seeped through his shirt and covered his jeans. Dave’s cheek was also smeared with mud the gleeful look in his malicious eyes was one that John recognised immediately--- and that had him fighting even harder against it. Dave’s smirk turned twisted and disgusting, his fangs glinting in the darkness, completely visible to John thanks to his advanced eyesight.

“Don’t you dare, Dave!” John seethed, bucking and thrashing and attempting to throw Dave off. Arrogant as it might sound it wasn’t often that he found himself matched in strength (if needs be he was sure he could even physically take Randy, though he had no qualms that his mate would put up one hell of a fight if he did) and so it was a very odd feeling indeed for him to be pinioned. When he suddenly felt himself being forced face-down into the mud and bracken though his struggles returned anew. He _wouldn’t_ let Dave do that to him again, that was the forefront of his mind, but there was also another thought there too.

_Randy would never touch him again if Dave did this to him._

The sound of tearing denim sounded obscene in the still air and John felt the brush of chill wind against the backs of his thighs where the material was beginning to come apart in Dave’s hands as he clawed as it, only being deterred momentarily as John punched him had enough to break his cheekbone, and broke one of his ribs as he managed to get one well-aimed kick to his torso. “How does he feel about it, huh John?” Dave snarled, losing his purchase on John’s jeans momentarily because of the man’s thrashing. When he pinioned John’s legs to the ground with his own though the man momentarily felt dread and hopelessness welling in him.

Apparently silence was _not_ what Dave wanted to hear because his shouting became louder, more aggressive, saliva flying from his mouth with the force of the words being spat (no pun intended) into the night air, puncturing the otherwise blissful tranquillity with his venomous desires. “How does it feel for him to know that I had you before he _was even born_?!” that final declaration was followed by a more definite tear of denim--- and just as John’s jeans went into two halves, barely keeping up around his legs, and the man’s boxers became the focus of Dave’s attention, something suddenly hit Dave with the force of a south-bound freight train.

John’s eyes were wide as he watched Randy snarling and seething, lashing out at Dave with everything he had. He had managed to catch Dave off-guard for a moment, but again the age and strength differences seemed to be working in Dave’s favour, for he soon had Randy around the throat, doing the seemingly impossible as he lifted the tall man off of the floor. Staggering to his own feet John shot forward, seizing the wrist of the hand that held his mate’s throat and sinking his fangs deep into it. The howl of pain Dave gave screeched through the night like car-metal against car-metal at high-speed and John fought the urge to cover his ears against it.

The area where John had bitten was actually smoking slightly, as though the flesh was singed, and the wound was black and already looked as though it had been festering for over a month. Though their venom was always present in a bite, it wasn’t unless they actually sought to use it that it made itself apparent with its deadly effects. Like if John had bitten Randy, his saliva, his venom, was what allowed the wound to be sealed so easily. Though Dave was incapacitated with one hand out of commission it still took the joint efforts of both Randy and John to take him down. Several more bites and several more limbs removed from the equation finally meant Dave was off his feet.

“You don’t have the guts, boy,” Dave snarled, still stubborn and arrogant and believing that he would be OK even though anyone with half an ounce of sense would know that they were finished. “You won’t be able to finish me off right. You’re too much of a pussy; you and your tame vampires. Do you know what he was like?” John’s eyes widened as Randy stopped in his attacks, circling Dave’s battered form like the predator he was, listening to his words. John silently pleaded with Randy to ignore him; Dave had always been good at manipulating through his words. “He was magnificent—“Dave hissed, “And you’re ruining him. You’re smothering the true potential our kind possesses---!”


	14. Once And For All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vicious fight continues between the Clan and Dave, and Dave reveals more of John's past that the elder vampire hoped would never be brought forth to their attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite violent and graphic fight scene contained therein, so if such things are triggering for you please proceed with caution or skip this chapter

Randy glanced up at John, looking strained and distressed for the first time since John had found him – it was more usual for him in such circumstances to be angry and spitting venom, occasionally literally. “We need to get him to the warehouse,” he said, ignoring Dave’s continued rants as if they meant nothing to him, although John was sure on some level that it was all getting through. “Help me. And stay away from his mouth.”

John nodded, lifting Dave by the back of his shirt, which was no easy task even for him given their height difference. He considered for a moment and then decided it might be easiest just to drag him along the floor, allow Randy to watch to make sure he didn’t try anything funny. It would be good if they could bind his hands somehow but all they had was Randy’s belt and Dave could snap that without even thinking about it. Even handcuffs would be no real hindrance to him. He’d just have to hope Randy was alert to any danger there might be.

“Are we far?” he asked, having lost his bearings in the struggle.

Randy’s eyes went to the damage that had been done to John’s clothes, really taking in the damage for the first time. His eyes narrowed and although John had expected to feel his anger, he hadn’t expected the sheer bone-chilling terror that went through him too, the echo of Randy’s thoughts in his own head. _He was trying to--_

And then Randy slammed a lid on those realisations, leaving behind anger and a whole lot of resolution. This _had_ to be done, no matter what. Dave had been allowed to cut a swathe through the human population for a long time but that was explained away as to be partly expected and he hadn’t brought real trouble down onto his clan before. This was different, this was a matter of their own survival. “We’re not far,” Randy said in a voice so steely that John almost dropped Dave to applaud; he knew just how far from Randy’s actual emotions that voice was. “Let’s get back there and out of sight.”

“Out of sight?” Dave’s sneer was evident in his voice and he started twisting and fighting in John’s grip, meaning that he had to reassert his grip – damn, poisoned so hard that he couldn’t stand and he was still struggling? This was someone he had to keep a close eye on, but John had known that all along. But along with the residual fear he had always felt for the man that had killed him, he was starting to feel the faintest stirring of hope. He had been running for so long, trying to free himself from the influence Dave had over him and the lessons that he had taught; could it really be that the whole thing might come to an end that night and leave him free for the first time since he had been changed?

“Out of sight never used to bother you,” continued Dave and now John was sure he heard some kind of amusement in his voice too. “I remember the time we crashed into the middle of some gathering on a village green, somewhere in the north. Travellers, and we tore each and every one of them apart, we fed from severed limbs and _laughed_ Johnny, you remember that? Had ourselves a little party, _gorged_ ourselves ‘til we couldn’t take another drop and then slept in the ground with their bodies over our heads. Does _he_ know how he used to be?”

There was a repressed memory John could have done without. And it hadn’t been quite as Dave had said, it had hardly been a party, but it had been Dave’s idea and there had been the rule, _no witnesses._ He had made sure of that while Dave had found the whole thing some kind of grotesque fun. He might have been sick, had he been able and it had been that night he had started to wonder if his unlife was worth the lives of so many or if there might be some other way, if he could feed and leave his donor still living. He had never asked Dave though, he had known all along that Dave would laugh at him and drag him into still worse for even daring to think there might be something different for him.

“Does he know about your first meal?” And shockingly Dave actually laughed. “How you rose and I brought you a street urchin? I twisted off her head and you drank from the spray like she was a bottle of shook-up coke—“

John remembered that one alright, he didn’t think a day went by without remembering _that_ one. He had been confused, disoriented, _starving_ , only a few hours old and Dave had the kid right there, the kid dressed practically in rags and with a look in her eyes that suggested she was pretty sure already that she wasn’t leaving the place alive and was resigned to it. That look had spoken to something in John’s soul but then she was dead, Dave holding her head by the matted, dirty hair while offering the still-twitching body to him.  And he had given in to the more physical needs speaking to him and drank her dry.

He still mourned that kid and the violence of her end, the way he still mourned that he had been involved in any kind of horror that Dave had seen fit to inflict on those who didn’t deserve it and couldn’t fight back. It was the reason he had sworn _no more_ , that he had been so devastated the one time he went too far and killed the man who would become his mate. And he hated Dave with every fibre of his being, for killing him, for dragging him through all the things that he had and now, for revealing them to Randy when John would have had them buried and forgotten forever.

With a speed that even a vampire would have struggled to follow, he hoisted Dave to his height, turned him so they were face-to-face, then headbutted him square in the mouth. Dave let out some strangled noise as something cracked and John had a moment when he almost reeled – headbutting a vampire was never the best idea but he felt he had been driven to it – and then Dave sagged somewhat, mouth filling with blood that just proved he had fed sometime recently. John noticed as he stared that the blow had knocked a fang from his mouth, no wonder the fight had left him temporarily. Even when they were feeding the fangs were sensitive and there was going to be pain when they were removed violently. John just hoped that the missing tooth wasn’t embedded in his forehead, pumping poison into his system. They could recover from it but it was entirely debilitating in the immediate bloodstream and incredibly painful. He knew. When he had been insubordinate, Dave had used the venom on _him_.

“That’ll shut his mouth,” he said almost casually to the shocked Randy, who hadn’t seen the act coming at all. But he said nothing – he thought that Dave deserved that and more and that if anyone were to disable him, it should be John. In spite of the blows he had shot at the clan, it had been John who had suffered. John let Dave fall again, crashing to the ground and then grabbing the back of his shirt again. It occurred to him that Dave had lost the sunglasses somewhere, he had a hundred or more pairs and he always wore them. Dave said it was because they made him look cool, John personally thought that it was to hide his eyes. The craziness within them was too blatant to hide and no one would risk getting near unless they were hidden.

Randy led him back to the warehouse and John followed, dragging Dave and keeping an eye on him, ready to punch out his other fang if he started spewing out that crap again – but Dave remained silent for the moment. It was a development that John was almost disappointed about; he wanted to hurt Dave again, worse this time. He had told Randy that as Dave’s protégé he had done bad things, terrible things and had been powerless to refuse but he had not gone into any kind of detail. Dave had. And he knew that while Randy had taken his fair share of lives while struggling to gain some kind of control with no sire or clan on the scene to help him, he had never taken joy in the act of killing and never revelled in pain and suffering the way that Dave had, and the way he implied that John had too.

Hunter and Shawn were waiting outside the warehouse, Hunter apparently stoic while Shawn shifted from foot to foot, clearly anxious. When they saw Randy and John approaching, faster than human speeds in their haste but slowed down because of Dave’s weight, Hunter’s eyes grew big and he showed shock for the first time that night – and Randy knew that Hunter rather prided himself on his jaded, been-there-seen-it-all attitude. “What the hell—“

“Let’s get inside,” ordered Randy. Hunter took one look at John’s shredded clothes and decided that it might be wise to keep his mouth well and truly closed about this, now and for the rest of eternity. He was a man who knew just how to keep his silence and for that Randy was grateful. Hunter did as bidden, a stern look at Shawn meaning that the other followed him hurriedly – Shawn’s mouth was like a half-tamed horse and once he’d said something he shouldn’t he would rather make things worse than back off. Randy fully intended to pull him aside once all of this was over and use his sire ability to compel Shawn to never speak of it again, to anyone save his mate. He didn’t want smart-arsed comments about it but he would never dream of disallowing mates to speak of what they wanted when they were alone.

Once they were in the warehouse John dropped Dave to the floor, unconsciously wiping his hand against his ruined jeans. Chris, Cody, Adam and Christian were all waiting for them and their eyes went to their captive as he tried to lean up on arms that refused to support him, spitting up blood from his torn mouth. But John wasn’t fooled, they were too hardy for this to be lasting. The night after Dave would be whole again, fang regrown, as good as new. And he would be after them once more.

Still, it was hard to keep real hatred aimed at a sight so pathetic.

Dave looked up, smirking as he saw the hesitation on the clans faces. “I knew it,” he said with deep satisfaction. “Weak, all of you. You don’t have the balls and maybe when I take back what’s mine, I’ll take what’s _yours_ —“ he looked at Randy as he spoke. “And teach your human-weak clan what it really means to be _strong_ —“

Randy had been half-expecting it; Dave had seemed just too dazed and confused by what had gone on and Randy knew that _he_ would be able to fight again by now and there was no reason Dave wouldn’t be. Healing went on even if they didn’t immediately feed and Dave was stronger than any of them. He would be weakened, he would be slowed, but he would still be dangerous – and Dave proved it when he suddenly shot to his feet, barrelling toward Randy.

Dave was slower than they were used to, almost staggering on his first couple of steps thanks to the poison working in his system. But he was dangerous, more so because in spite of his arrogance he had to know that this could well be his last stand and his only chance of living through it was escape. Once he had time to recover the clan lost the advantage – and there was more. Dave didn’t have to act alone if he chose not to; he could use people to blackmail them or there was a chance he could contact his own sire. Just because ‘Taker had promised no retaliation for death, that didn’t mean that Dave couldn’t beg help while he was still living.

Randy held his ground and Dave hit him, taking him to the ground. Randy rolled with the momentum and threw Dave over his head and to the ground. A moment later John entered the fray, grabbing Dave’s arm as he clawed at the air. Dave’s earlier words had gotten into his mind, those memories of ripping people apart to feed from them while they were still alive and terrorised. The urchin’s eyes looked at him reproachfully from hundreds of years past and with a snarl that sounded nothing at all like he usually did, John _twisted_ the arm as hard as he could before yanking with all of his incredible strength. Dave let out a scream that burbled thanks to the blood still in his mouth as John removed his arm from the shoulder, the snarl etched onto his face as he stared down at Dave and then tossed the arm carelessly aside and attacked again.

Randy looked around the clan, hiding his own emotions about what was happening – there was time enough for that later on but for the moment they had unfinished business. “Let’s go,” he ordered and although the clans expressions ranged from concerned to downright sick, as one they all fell upon their enemy.

Remembering it all _much_ later, Cody would see the scene in odd flashes as if there had been a strobelight affecting his vision, although he knew it was adrenaline and fear taking those odd mental snapshots. Someone, either Adam or Christian, managed to rip off Dave’s other arm from the elbow down, raising it in the air. His legs were sent flying across the floor, one after the other, still clad in muddied, bloodied chinos that had once been white. Blood pooled the floor beneath them, soaking into the knees of his jeans. Dave’s cries and threats and pleas continued, becoming more muted and incoherent as he was pulled apart, piece by piece. There was blood on their hands, a long streak across John’s cheek and neck that went all too well with the snarl on his face and the pure fury in his eyes; Cody suspected that his grandsire had not ever allowed himself to really loathe his mentor until he knew the end of the man was in sight. Cody could taste the fine drops of blood from some arterial spray against his own lips and spat, not wanting that at all, not wanting even a trace of Dave’s blood to contaminate that of Ted’s that still flowed through him. Beneath their destruction Dave was reduced to mere torso and head, no longer interested in telling them how many more times they were all going to suffer for this, pleading for his existence and mercy instead, promising that he would leave them all be and never return.

Cody didn’t believe him.

Fingers dug into Dave’s stomach, tearing flesh, pulling out soft organs and intestines. Dave’s yells became still more agonised, eyes starting to glaze. Cody felt some dim, distant horror in the back of his mind at the sheer brutality they were capable of, himself included, their true natures emerging. He had never seen even a hint of this in any of his clan brothers but of course he had known they were capable of this. Of course he had known, but he had never expected there to be an occasion wherein he would see it.

Dave’s cries tapered off, giving way to barely-there whimpers and groans. Cody could barely believe Dave was still able to make any sound after all that, any sign that he was even clinging to what passed as life for their species. But they were hardy and he might still heal. They had no real idea of how much punishment they could take and come back from , although there were stories about the ‘Taker and how he had been presumed killed only to rise up righteously pissed off. They couldn’t afford for that to happen with Dave.

It was John who moved to grab Dave by the head, his hair too short to be of any use for what he had in mind but nevertheless finding a grip by putting both his hands beneath Dave’s chin. Dave’s eyes rolled up in his head and he locked his gaze on John’s, some kind of plea there that John completely ignored.

He snapped Dave’s neck easily, then twisted his head around, worrying at it until it came off in with a wet tearing noise and a sluggish splatter of blood. John eyed it curiously, trying to detect some kind of life still within but he saw nothing, the lips made no sound and the eyes were rolled so high that there was nothing visible but their whites. With the blood and the wounds, it was the deadest looking head that John had ever seen.

He spat in its face.

Once the clans bloodlust had been raised, it was slow to recede again and it was a while before everyone stopped dragging at flesh and calmed themselves. Hunter absently started licking his fingers clean while the group looked down at the decimated body but Cody felt ill at the mere thought, he didn’t want anything to do with the blood of this monster. Most of the clan seemed to feel the same as he did, although more than one of them showed definite relish in tasting the blood of their fallen foe.

Neither Randy or John were among them though. Cody had never seen either of them look the way they did then and was almost sure that he never would again. John, who was so calm and centred, wore a wild look and was completely dishevelled while Randy had some odd combination of satisfaction, disgust and pity on his face. As the clan backed away from the remains, John threw the head on the pile and once more scrubbed his hand against his ruined jeans.

“What now?” asked Cody, almost timidly.

Randy looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile that actually made Cody relax a little in spite of the situation. It was done with, his sire would make sure of it and there would be no further threat made against Ted – and he was sure that having a small part of Ted _with_ him had strengthened him. He might not have been able to behave so mercilessly, so brutally, if it had not been for the knowledge it was the only way to keep his mate safe… and he also knew he would never, _ever_ , tell that to Ted.

“Now we burn it all,” Randy told him.

~:~

Ted hadn’t intended on sleeping at all and when he woke, still feeling woozy and yet oddly content, he cursed himself as he sat up, giving himself a moment to recover from the slight wave of dizziness that went through him. There was a note on the table and he grabbed it, recognising Cody’s handwriting immediately and groaning quietly when he realised he had missed his lover. What if the worst happened and he hadn’t even been awake to give him a last kiss goodbye…

He slammed a lid on that thought in a hurry. He didn’t need to be thinking like that or he would drive himself insane.

A look at the clock told him that it was still night and that Cody had been gone for a while. Gnawing lightly on his lip, Ted decided it would be a good move to get up, occupy himself. He had never been much of a one to lie in bed awake unless Cody was there with him and they were having some alone time, the one exception being when Cody had died and he had lain in bed for days on end, never wanting to face the world again. Cody was still here and there was no proof at all that something bad had happened. And when he got back, Ted wanted to prove that he was fine, unharmed by the feeding.

There was a dark, secret part of him that desperately wanted Cody to feed from him again.

He showered, carefully because there was still a lingering weakness and he certainly didn’t want to take a spill. With that done, he dressed and went downstairs, hair still damp, planning to get himself something to eat. He needed to keep his strength up, not just for his own well being but for Cody’s and that feeling added to his need to eat. He still found it amusing that a house full of vampires would also have plenty of food for humans, should there be a need.

He hadn’t expected to run into Evan in the kitchen no matter what he had said to Cody, but when he saw the smaller man’s dark hair bent over a book, a cup in hand, he wasn’t entirely surprised. When it came to the clan and Randy’s control over it, Evan was a wild card because he was Chris’s child and not Randy’s. Just the same as if he were to be changed, he would be Cody’s child and not Randy’s and with just as much potential for the unexpected…

He stopped the train of thought, appalled at himself. He wasn’t thinking of that kind of thing. He was an outdoor guy, he loved the sun, he loved to feel the warmth on his face and the taste of certain foods and being his own person and a hundred other things that a vampire simply could never enjoy.

Except that he loved Cody more than any simple pleasure that came from being human. And he hadn’t enjoyed anything at all since Cody had been taken from him. Everything had been rendered meaningless.

Evan looked up at him and smiled, although Ted thought he detected some stress in his face. “Hi Ted. You okay?”

“Sure,” replied Ted with rather too much cheer. “Jut kinda hungry is all, I’m gonna make something – will that disturb you?”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Evan bounced to his feet with just a fraction of the energy that was so much a part of him and Ted didn’t think was anything to do with his undead status. “I’ll cook. You make coffee or something.”

“That’s okay—“

“Really Ted, let me.” Evan gave him a rather pleading look. “I don’t eat anymore but I was human until real recently and I can cook a mean meal. Also, it’d give me something to do. I’ve been uh, worrying a bit and I don’t like to sit still when I’m stressed out. But it’s not like I can leave.”

“True.” Ted nodded, although he wasn’t at all sure about the wisdom of allowing someone who didn’t eat to oversee his food. He’d probably be okay though. Evan immediately went to the fridge and began preparing what seemed to be the hugest breakfast that Ted had ever seen while Ted busied himself making a coffee (and noting as he passed that Evan’s cup was half-full of a suspicious red liquid that he didn’t have to think about to know what it was). Only half-way through the process Ted started to wonder if Evan’s reasoning hadn’t been entirely true but with a qualifier that he _hadn’t_ mentioned, that cooking the way Ted felt might have resulted in a house fire. His concentration and focus were shot to hell. Even something as simple as making himself a drink meant really forcing himself to consider the task.

He sat at the table and Evan put a plate in front of him some ten minutes later, piled with pancakes and waffles, bacon on the side. _Sugar_ , Ted thought with some surprise, although the bacon on the side looked a hundred times more appealing. He had always had a sweet tooth but not from the moment he awoke.

“Use plenty of syrup too, the sugar helps when you’re feeling a bit woozy.” Evan slid into his own seat and smiled at Ted, no sign of fangs. “Trust me, I know.”

Ted tucked into the meal after giving Evan a slightly wary look. Evan read it for what it was and chuckled. “We all knew the moment he came down that Cody fed off of you,” he said, almost apologetically. “There’s some things you just can’t keep secret from the clan. We could hear your heart beating and we knew you were okay, but we could also smell you on Cody and you can just _tell_. He looked better than he has done _ever_ and it altered his whole aura.”

Ted swallowed his food, then nodded. “Yeah, I made him feed from me,” he said, tone almost defensive. “I wanted him as strong as he could be for tonight.”  
  
A shadow passed over Evan’s face. “I can understand that. And I know how it is with feeding, I was Chris’s mate while I was still human. I got to learning the best things to make you feel better in a hurry and sugar’s the way to go. I’d recommend keeping some chocolate in the bedroom or something, it’s a quick fix straight afterwards if you don’t want to be dropping off all the time.”

“I’ll do that.” Ted looked rather guiltily at his plate, where the food was already half-gone. “This is really good.”

“I was pretty used to cooking for myself before I turned,” said Evan cheerily. “I’ve not fallen out of the habit yet. I’ve only been a vampire around about – seven months, give or take. Humanity’s a habit that’s hard to shake sometimes.”

“Seven months?” Cody had mentioned that Evan hadn’t been turned long but Ted hadn’t realised it had been such a short time. “What happened? I mean, Randy turned Cody because of how…” He didn’t want to finish that thought but he could see that Evan knew what he meant. “And it was the same with Chris. I don’t know about the others but it doesn’t seem like any of you just turn people for the sake of it. And you’re so young.”

“There wasn’t any accident,” said Evan quietly. “I wasn’t sick. I was living here with my mate and I led such a uh, _backward_ existence. I was up all night with Chris, sleeping most of the day and I didn’t really have to think about it. I wanted to be with him forever and when it came to changing, I made that choice myself. Chris wasn’t at all thrilled about it at first. Like I said, humanity’s hard to shake and Chris might have taken to this life easily but I’m not sure he wanted someone he loves to miss out on what it means to be human. But I had my reasons and he had his for giving in to me in the end. Ones I don’t really want to go into, not just because it’s private but ‘cause you’re human too and I know how this stuff can prey on you. You’re not me and your choices have to be your own. And you’ve not even had time to come to terms with what’s new, let alone with the future. You shouldn’t worry about that for a good long while. You and Cody, you have all the time in the world.”

Ted watched Evan a moment but the vampire was inscrutable and Ted turned his attention back to his plate, finding that his appetite had waned a little. It was true that he and Cody weren’t like Evan and Chris and they had to find their own way, but he had the feeling that there was something that Evan wasn’t telling him, something big. Still, he needed the strength and when he took another bite, his body demanded that he have still more.

~:~

The canisters of gasoline only went so far, but considering that Dave was in pieces by this point they just piled him into something that looked like an obscene imitation of a bonfire. Though the killing blow might have been carried out by John, Randy was the one who lit the match and dropped it onto Dave’s doused remains. Immediately flame erupted over them—but to Cody’s shock the flame wasn’t orange, like normal fire, it was almost… like there was a _black_ hue. Not as in smoke, though there was a lot of that, the flames itself. Immediately Cody noticed with a bizarre satisfaction that Dave’s fingers, his arms being at the bottom of the pile, were already starting to smoulder and turn into ash.

He had the sudden grotesque urge to pick one up and tap it shaking the end like you did a cigarette. Shuddering slightly at his own thoughts Cody then backed up a step and looked down at himself. Covered in blood and muck he was sure he looked a sight, as did they all. Even though he knew it was impossible he was hoping that Ted would still be asleep when they got back; he would rather that his mate didn’t have to see any of them, but especially _him,_ like this. At first it seemed like everyone else was going to just stand there and watch Dave burn (and had the sun not been near he was sure Randy and John at least _definitely_ would) before they came back to their senses.

“Are you OK to drive?” Chris’ voice in his ear startled Cody just a little, but they both exchanged a small smile that was the equivalent of laughing it off in these circumstances, and he nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Sure, were was still some deep level of disgust at what had happened, as well as that underlying twisted excitement, but he was doing better for it all than he had expected he would. Chris nodded and then murmured, “I’ll ride with you then, if that’s OK?” Cody nodded immediately, leading the way to his car. Hunter and Shawn were in their car, and Adam and Christian in theirs--- Randy and John would probably just get into one of their cars.

The trip home seemed fairly uneventful after that and were it not for the fact they were all covered in blood and with slightly ruined clothes (or rather ruined clothes in John’s case) they may have just looked as though they had been for some sort of night out. Once the manor got into sight Cody felt an intense feeling of relief, but he couldn’t help suddenly feeling concerned about the fact that they had left Dave unattended. Um, the fire of Dave. _Anyway_. “What about the fire?” he asked and Chris shook his head, “No one’ll find it until morning, and it’s not strong enough to spread--- even if someone reports it by tomorrow the sun will have definitely got him.”

“Oh… OK,” the younger vampire nodded his head. If the elder didn’t seem concerned then he doubted anyone else would and therefore deduced that he shouldn’t be so concerned about it. He was no longer their problem-- that was something that he had to keep reminding himself. They parked in the garage as usual (Cody betting Randy would be bringing in the special valeting team he used tomorrow or sometime very soon) and then trooped up to the house. He wasn’t too surprised to see Evan all but fly across the floor as soon as Chris walked in, leaping into his mate’s arms and wrapping his legs around the man’s waist as he embraced him tightly.

It had probably been torturous for him to sit there, feeling everything that Chris was feeling, essentially knowing what was going through Chris’ mind, and yet being housebound and unable to help him. From the look in Evan’s eyes Cody wouldn’t have been surprised if the blonde had been forced to strip then and there so that his mate could inspect to see whether he was still intact as he had been. Well, intact of anything save for minor injuries that was, he amended in his mind. He wondered suddenly how Ted must have put up with a wound-up--- Cody’s thoughts cut off abruptly and his eyes widened. _Ted!_ His head snapped towards the kitchen door.

To Cody’s mind it seemed like a terse moment, Ted looking at Evan wrapped around the bloodies and mucky Chris, seeing Cody and the others being in equal states of mess--- though most were beginning to give general goodnights and beginning to head up to their rooms, undoubtedly to scrub themselves raw before they rested for the night. When Ted’s eyes alighted on John’s ruined jeans they widened and Cody could tell that he wasn’t the only one who had heard the shocked increase of his heartbeat as he made the only, sadly, logical conclusion as to why that particular item of clothes would be ruined in that particular way. “Teddy—“he started hesitantly, having no idea what to say.

Retrospectively he hadn’t needed to say anything because, even though the speed seemed slow to them, his lover crossed the distance between them in no time at all, arms flinging around Cody’s neck as he embraced him tightly. Had he still been human and Ted had run at him like that then chances were Cody would have been knocked off of his feet--- as it stood then he fell back a step and embraced Ted back as tightly as he dared. “The muck—“he said, not wanting to call it what it predominantly was even though he knew there was no way Ted wouldn’t know what it was. “Don’t care,” Ted murmured, and kissed Cody squarely on the lips.

Well, if Ted wasn’t going to protest then Cody sure as hell wasn’t--- he kissed Ted back passionately, though with careful restraint. It was only when a voice cleared behind them that they parted… and Cody couldn’t help the unfurling of pride in his chest as he saw Ted’s flushed cheeks and slightly laboured breathing. Chris and Evan had left it seemed and Randy and John were starting upstairs themselves. “Well done tonight Cody,” Randy said, the words simple but the praise meaning a lot as sire to child, “—get a shower and have a good rest OK.” He then looked at Ted, “You get some more rest as well…” he looked almost embarrassed for a moment, John nudging him lightly.

“The first is always the hardest,” Randy added on by way of an explanation. He then vanished upstairs though John lingered long enough to say a simple, “Thank you,” before he was quick to follow his mate. Ted didn’t care that he would need another wash himself after embracing Cody in his current state; he would have taken it upon himself to make sure his fiancé was completely cleaned and absolved of that evening’s events even if he hadn’t. “How long do you have until you’ll need to be in bed?” the blonde asked and Cody wrinkled his nose at the phrasing; he was sure that Ted subconsciously teased him with it, since he had a defacto curfew now.

Tilting his head to the side in that contemplative manner Ted was getting used to seeing (it did make him wonder why Cody still wore a watch though since he never referred to it when he was in need of the time like he was now) Cody then responded, “About an hour and a half,” he said. Dawn would be half an hour after that. It would have shocked him that they were getting back in so late had they not been doing what they had--- it wouldn’t have been a threat to begin with if it was something they could have taken care of without much problem. “Because I think that we both need a bath,” Ted said pointedly firm and Cody nodded his head obediently.

~::~

As they headed up the stairs Randy was running a hot bath in the Jacuzzi-style tub that he had had installed in his room as soon as they had moved in. everyone teased him for being vain, but Randy had always been very meticulous about his bathing facilities. When you had spent most of your life bathing in bathing in tin tubs and barrels then you’d be wanting the finest you could get yourself too, wouldn’t you? John had thrown his clothing into a bin-bag Randy had found from _somewhere_ in the room to be rid of later. Washing them would do no good and he wouldn’t have wanted to keep them even if they could have been salvaged… jeans notwithstanding of course.

So, there he was, naked as the day he was born, laid back on the bed listening the sound of rushing water and Randy’s small sounds of movement in the adjoining room. He’d get up in a minute to go in there with him, but right then he just… needed a moment to adjust. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea that Dave was gone even though he had torn the man’s head off personally. It had just been _so long_ , and he’d been through _so much agony_ because of that man… and in the space of two and a half hours they had destroyed a man who had been around for centuries by that point. It just seemed so impossible to him, too good to be true as the saying went.

The sudden sensation of hands on his own had the brunette opening his eyes, blue locking on deep silvery blue. It was funny though, for sometimes Randy’s eyes could seem green in the right light, or black depending on his mood… they all got blood red around the irises if they had gone so long without feeding. “Hm?” John enquired without words and Randy rolled his eyes without derisiveness as he lifted John upright with little struggle at all. “Come on,” he said. Though the man had never been especially demonstrative in his affection before he had definitely gained an increase in his tactile needs recently… not to say that John was complaining about it.

Randy got into the tub first, and John found himself being settled between Randy’s legs with his back resting against the man’s chest. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation and the hot water lapping against their aching muscles felt so good. It took John a moment to realise that Randy had put a little baking-soda in the water. It was one of those unexplainable facts of their kind, like baths aiding healing and keeping them hydrated, that baking-soda somehow also added to healing. It was an especially handy substitute when you weren’t in a position to feed right away. Randy’s arms went around John’s middle, caressing his six-pack gently.

“Thank you,” John whispered, the words barely penetrated the silence but Randy heard them as though John had spoken them at normal level. The emotion Randy could feel from his mate in that moment told him that he didn’t just mean ‘thank you for getting rid of Dave’, but ‘thank you for standing by me even when you found out about my past’ and ‘thank you for saving me’. The last one was definitely _not_ something that came easy from a man like John and Randy could tell he meant it wholeheartedly. “As if I would’ve let anything happen to you,” Randy muttered gruffly, pressing his face into John’s neck. The clan leader got embarrassed over emotions.

“You’re _mine_ John,” Randy murmured into his neck and the sheer power of the declaration resonated deep within John’s core. Nothing in his being protested the words, not even his alpha male tendencies. “I’m yours just as much. And if _anyone_ ever attempts to come between us then I’ll kill them.” He stroked his long, strong fingers up John’s muscled abdomen once again, heading higher towards his nipples. When Randy pinched them, the pressure borderline on painful, even for them, and John groaned, arching his torso up reflexively, “Randy,” he fairly gasped, mildly surprised this was happening, and he could _feel_ the younger vampire smirking into his flesh.

“You put yourself in danger tonight John,” Randy murmured, “You bent me to your will and went running off—“John started to protest but a sudden swift pinch of his nipples had the protest turning into a moan once again, “And you had Cody with you. I know you’d sooner have yourself hurt than let harm come to him but that isn’t the point.” When two of Randy’s fingers suddenly pushed into his mouth John was left with no doubt as to what his mate intended. Well, John would be lying if he said he didn’t need it; he needed to be embraced by Randy, to be held and loved and assured that nothing had changed no just because Randy had seen...

Had seen the beast that he generally fought so hard to keep down. John’s eyes hooded as he allowed the fingers to be pushed in and out of his mouth, deeper and deeper, slickening them with saliva. It was probably pointless given that they were in water but John knew that Randy was only doing it because he had a bit of secret kink for the sensation. The fingers travelled underneath the water and then pressed into him in one firm movement, making John hiss out in pleasure as his head rolled backwards at the sensation. Though Randy’s movements were thorough they were what could only be described as ‘gentle’ by his usual standards.

“Sit back,” Randy murmured and John’s eyes widened just a fraction as he realied what Randy was intending. However he lifted his hips and allowed Randy to pull him back against his cock, feeling the thick head of it breaching the ring of muscles of his somewhat stretched entrance. Slowly, deeply, Randy pressed into him and soon John’s body was nestled completely atop this. Had there been much difference in their heights then they probably never have been able to pull off a position like this. “Unh,” John shuddered and shivered, bracing his hands on the side of the bath as he started to pull himself off of Randy and sank down again.

The water trembled slightly with that first movement, but when their movements began to get harder, if not exactly faster, water sloshed over the edges of the tub and splashed over the floor. It wouldn’t be a problem to clean up, and it’s not like they’d have to clean up anyway, so that was why Randy never cared much about the messes he made when it came to their lovemaking. “So good John,” Randy growled quietly, “-so good.” Most of the mess that had accumulated on their skin where their clothing hadn’t protected them was already being washed away but John didn’t doubt that Randy would have him scrubbed thoroughly before they got out of the tub afterwards.

When Randy bit him John shuddered and convulsed, his cock twitched from where it had been lying against his abs, occasionally bobbing in the water when the movement on if it caught the appendage. Randy growled quietly as he supped from John’s life liquid, shivering and pushing harder into John as he fed from him. He knew that John needed this as much as he did; he needed the claim and the aid to ease himself for his injuries, and John needed to be dominated the _correct_ way, and provided with his own sense of reassurance and care. He would let John bite him afterwards, once they were in bed together and settled down, clean.

Easing his fangs from John’s neck, Randy then licked the wound deliberately slowly as he grasped John in hand, starting to pump him so hard water splashed around them both, the water of the bath lowered enough that it was barely splashing off the of the sides more so than going over them. John cried out as he came over Randy’s hand and into the water. Randy came inside of him moments later and then they both collapsed back against the tub edge. After a few moments Randy’s softened cock slipped out of John’s entrance and Randy could feel the sense of John felt at suddenly being empty without him… yeah, his ego got stroked by that.

After a few lazy moments to savour their moment, John then shifted upright and reached for the soap and loofa. Squeezing lather onto the item he got a stronger lather up and then, from Randy’s neck to his toes, John proceeded to wash every inch of the younger man with the same devout attention that Randy had admittedly picked up very quickly from John regarding him. However, he had never taken advantage of it though because thoughts of that had always lead to thoughts of things that he daren’t admit to himself until recently so he’d been held back. Sure, it was only for his sake but it had worked to John’s benefit so it hadn’t mattered much.

Once his turn to be tended had passed Randy then made sure to scrub John thoroughly from head to toe before then finally draining the water. The colour had turned admittedly suspicious but they were clean at least and that was what mattered. Aside from some scrapes and cuts at that point neither man looked as though they’d been engaged in what could have been seen as a fight to the death not long before. When they were dried and settled in bed comfortably Randy offered his throat to John and held the man as he fed. Much like his own feeding it seemed less desperate than usual, more… grateful for it almost.

Dawn came and passed, but for the first time in decades neither man was up to witness the passage of another night into a new day. Emotionally and mentally the day had taken a lot out of them and so their bodies were more than ready to have their momentary respite into rest. Not once did either of them move, of course, but in this instance that was significant because their bodies were twined so closely together that it was almost difficult to tell which limb belonged to whom. This would probably be the only time they were ever truly tender with each other because of their inherent natures, but if anything had ever proved their love for one another murdering a psycho ex was it.

~::~

“You’re still ticklish?” Ted found it funny to note this as he scrubbed Cody’s sides for him, kneeling opposite the other in the large bathtub. Cody had insisted that he could clean himself but Ted wasn’t having any of it. Earlier his conversation with Evan had veered into something that could only be described to as ‘bonding’--- though Ted once again noticed that Evan was holding back information about himself and seemed much more interested in learning about the newest arrival to their household. However, quite suddenly and out of nowhere, Evan had gripped at the heavy wooden table so hard that he’d left indented finger marks.

Attempting to ask what was happening had proved pointless because Evan had immediately clammed up on matters and tried to engage him in conversations about the PRB--- Professional Bull Riding had been something that he had been into since he was a child and the interest had stayed with him even until adulthood. He had managed to even get Cody to attend once or twice, and seeing the man dressed in cowboy gear for the occasion always stirred thinks in Ted that he was sure could only be described as kinky… and he was digressing. Anyway, Evan had been twitching and tensing, like when you watched people being hit on TV and shared their pain as it were.

Needless to say that had significantly wound Ted up, and then when Evan had suddenly gotten up and all but sprinted out of the kitchen Ted had followed as fast as he could. Seeing the sight of the messy and bloody group had sparked every protective and concerned instinct he possessed and he hadn’t even thought twice about enveloping Cody in his arms as he held him tight. The solid body underneath his hands was still whole as far as he could tell, and he didn’t seemed to have sustained any injuries… he supposed that they had been lucky in the long and short of it all, that no one had apparently sustained anything serious. Apart from John’s jeans.

Seeing the way that Ted’s expression darkened over Cody immediately wrapped his arms around the other. They had bubbles all around them and one was sticking right on the end of Ted’s nose--- something Cody would have made some sort of wart-joke about had he not been so distracted by the other’s expression. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly. It was only after he’d drawn Ted close that he realised he’d begun to harden again--- the lust he’d had for Ted before, it seemed, had been further supplemented by his newfound taste of his mate’s blood. Giving an embarrassed and apologetic look Cody prompted gently, “Teddy, baby talk to me…”

“That guy… He was going to… assault John, wasn’t he?” he whispered and Cody winced a little at the implication himself before nodding, and then pausing, “Well, I dunno… I think that’s what everyone thought when they saw his jeans… we weren’t actually there when John and Randy arrived with Dave so I don’t know what happened beforehand,” but he was fairly certain that it was nothing to _that_ degree… Dave would probably never been brought all the way to the warehouse if that was the case; Randy would have probably attempted to end him then and there. Nodding slightly Ted then started to rinse the suds from Cody’s body.

“So, he’s… dead then?” the word stuck in his throat painfully, the way it always had since Cody had passed and he had been forced to answer people about his lover’s ware-bouts after his murder if they weren’t close enough to him that they would have found out through family--- passer-by on the street for example who they might always see on the way to work, or at a café over lunch. It had been a word that seemed like the worst swearword or sacrilege to him, to have to say that about his dear Cody… and even now he had the man back it was still difficult to adjust to. Cody nodded solemnly, “Pretty sure of that,” he said gravely.

A shiver ran through Ted and he happily moved into Cody’s embrace. Feeling the other’s single breath ghost against his neck had Ted trembling again, though this time for a _very_ different reason other than fear. Cody’s lips were so close; just a small movement and the other could feed from him again. He could take from Ted and Ted could feel that perfect pleasure of surrender, of giving himself to Cody again. The blonde bit his lip as he felt himself hardening underneath the water, seeing the exact moment on Cody’s face when the other man realised it. He was so flustered that he completely disregarded that Cody was hardening as well.

“Sorry—“he started, but Cody’s lips brushing gently over his own had Ted relaxing again almost instantly. “It’s OK,” Cody murmured, their foreheads resting together, “You _never_ need to apologise for feeling like _that_ around me.” His lips quirked into something of a smug smile at the fact before he was quick to school his face. He almost slipped and fell back into the tub though when Ted suddenly voice the obviously attempting-to-be-casual, and was that _hopeful_ , question of, “Do you need to feed again?” the spasm of blood, and physical, lust that Cody felt almost sent him reeling over the bath edge and he had to fight down his urges as they screamed _‘Yes!’_

“I can’t,” Cody protested, trying not to show his disappointment--- and if he wasn’t incorrect Ted actually looked disappointed by the fact. “Baby, if I take too much from you… you may not recover from it.” His throat convulsed at the mere thought; he had no idea whether he’d ever have the control to change Ted if the other ever wanted it, and he sure as hell would never, ever want to be the cause of Ted’s death… especially if that death would be caught by his own greed and carelessness. “But…” Ted started, quite unsure why he wanted to press the issue suddenly. Cody brushed their lips together and shook his head, gently but firm.

“No baby,” Cody murmured softly, lifting Ted’s hands from the bath and brushing his lips over the pulse on both of the blonde’s wrists, “Your blood is precious, even where I’m concerned. If you give me too much then I’ll get greedy…” and Ted would also be physically exhausted, if not injured by the physical demands on him. Both sexually and health-wise. And mentally, he wouldn’t forget that: goodness’ only knew how many sheep had had to have had their memories wiped because they became too demanding or uppity… and speaking of uppity sheep he really needed to speak to Randy about Layla as soon as the time was more appropriate.

Finally it seemed as though Ted had understood because he nodded, finishing washing Cody and allowing Cody to wash him back before then beginning to get out of the tub. When Cody gently pulled him back down into his lap though he was startled, though not protesting. “Cody—“he started but the other merely smiled rather cheekily before then murmuring, “I might be forcing myself to hold back for your sake about that… but right now I’m going to be totally selfish about something else.” Before Ted could ask what Cody meant by that a familiar, manicured and maintained hand, wrapped around him, Cody beginning to stroke his and Ted’s cocks in tandem.

Even compared to the blow-job from Cody before it blew Ted’s mind; it had just been so long since he had had anything, and the fact that Cody was finally allowing himself to touch him again was a heady realisation indeed. In the end Cody ended up carrying Ted out of the tub, and they both dried one another thoroughly before getting into bed. And, not a moment too soon Ted found; Cody was out like a light not seconds after he’d managed a, “Love you Teddy.” Since he’d not long been awake, and ingested sugar, Ted searched in Cody’s bedside table and found his old hand-held games console. Well, it would provide him with some sort of distraction at least.


	15. You Make It All Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clan receive an unexpected guest and Cody and Ted have a long overdue talk

Evan wasn’t surprised when he woke to find Chris was still resting, although he could count on one hand the amount of times that had happened since he had been turned – Chris seemed hard-wired to wake up before the sun was fully set. There was occasionally idle speculation as to when sunset actually _was_ , at least when it counted for them and it appeared that each of them had their own internal clock that decided the subject for them. For Chris, _sunset_ was when the sky took on a purplish, darkened hue whereas for Evan it was when true darkness fell. He found it a little annoying that there was a period of as much as half an hour where Chris was up and about and he was still dead to the world, figuratively speaking at least, that they could be spending together. On the other hand, they had decades to spend with one another now. Evan pulled on a pair of jeans, kissing Chris on the jaw and smiling when his mate didn’t even stir. The events of last night must have really taken it out of him… and even considering it made his smile fade. At least it was done with now.

He headed silently out of the room, knowing himself well enough to know stillness wasn’t a part of his genetic makeup. He would start off with the best intentions and then disturb Chris by stroking his face or kissing him or something and he thought his lover could really use the sleep. He probably wasn’t the only one in the house. He heard no movement from anywhere else save for the steady beating of Ted’s heart several rooms away and suspected that he had the house to himself for a while.

He leapt from the top of the stairs to the floor as he always did, landing perfectly safely in a way that he knew pissed off some of the older ones. Shawn had tried it once then refused to do it ever again and Evan suspected he might have turned an ankle and been worried next time he could break it and _that_ would just be an embarrassment. Although they could leap massive distances without harming themselves, it tended to be done unconsciously and actually knowing they were about to drop several metres tended to put them off. But it was a small thing that made him feel as young as he had been when he had given his life to spend eternity in the darkness with his lover. All things considered, it was a fair trade.

He walked into the living room, thinking that he might curl up with a book for a while or maybe watch some really trashy TV that made everyone else in the house groan at the mere thought – Chris was the only one who’d been used to TV as a human and even then the programming tended to be wholesome; they all found the broadcasting of personal issues and problems, not to mention chasing around quasi-celebrities with nothing of interest to say, rather abhorrent. Evan wasn’t exactly a lover of such things but sometimes he found himself craving some really crappy television – it was a by-product of there being nothing else on when he was human, according to Chris.

The room was in darkness and it didn’t occur to him to turn on the light right away, he didn’t need it since their species saw extremely well in the dark. He was still lost in thought as he turned on the television and in the sudden light from the screen, saw the figure in the corner.

If his heart could have stopped, it probably would have done in that moment. He took only a moment to recover and recognise the scent, but for a moment he thought that it was Dave, somehow lived through what had been done to him the night before and come back for revenge.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” said ‘Taker gravely.

“You – I mean, that’s—“ Evan tried to get a hold of himself. “How did you get in anyway? It’s only just gone dark!”

There was a crash behind him as the door flew wider open and Chris stormed in, alerted by Evan’s sudden fear and ready to fight. And unfortunately as naked as Evan had left him. The snarl on his face faded out slightly as he realised that Evan wasn’t in any kind of danger and had recovered from the fear, then faded even more when the reality of his situation occurred to him.

“I’ll just go and put some pants on then,” he said with all the dignity he could muster and fled the room.

Evan’s cheek twitched as he tried to hold back laughter at his mates expense, helped in that by the ‘Taker himself, who was as stoic as if naked, snarling vampires crashing into the room he was in was an everyday occurrence.

The commotion had attracted the rest of the clan, who arrived within a couple of minutes looking rather confused at the unexpected visitor. Randy looked more than a little grim when he walked in and saw who was waiting for him and Evan thought that John looked rather worried, but no one asked any questions until they were all gathered. Chris appeared fully dressed, giving Evan a baleful look that suggested he would be quite annoyed if the naked thing got any further, then sat beside his mate with an arm around him. Cody and Ted were the last ones to appear and although Ted seemed slightly oblivious to it, Cody noticed immediately that ‘Taker gave them a hard, searching look as they entered. Of course, he would know that Cody had fed from him.

There had been no conversation while the group filed in and ‘Taker hadn’t seemed phased by the silence or the surreptitious glances he received off everyone. But once Cody and Ted had been seated, Randy pushed himself from the wall he’d been leaning on, obviously annoyed by the intrusion – one sensed he thought a knock or a warning text might have been nice – but not saying anything about it. Beside him, John seemed more worried than anything else.

“I take it your here to find out what happened with Dave last night,” Randy said without preamble.

‘Taker inclined his head a little. He had also remained standing and Randy rather wished that he hadn’t; he wasn’t used to people being taller than him and he didn’t like it. “I’m aware that Dave has been dealt with. I thought I’d come here as a courtesy, to reassure you what steps have been taken.”

“You mean Kane,” said John flatly, although Randy could feel the sudden spike of worry that went through his mate.

“Indeed.” ‘Taker’s gaze swept around the clan again, although he paid particular attention to Cody, Chris and John before his eyes settled on Randy again. Randy idly wondered what that was about but then ‘Taker was speaking again.

“You’ve never lost one of your children before.”

It wasn’t a question and Randy shook his head slowly. “No.”

“But they’re not all here.”

“No,” confirmed Randy after a slight hesitation, an admittance that had most of the rest of the clan gaping at the news. Evan looked around, seeing that Chris looked rather stunned at the confession – but both Hunter and Shawn, the oldest of Randy’s children, merely looked a little grim, not even slightly surprised. They had to know about it, Evan realised, but for whatever reason it wasn’t spoken of among them. _John_ didn’t look surprised either and Evan figured that Randy must have told his mate at some point, or maybe John just knew.

‘Taker had to know how the news had been taken but gave no sign of it. “I _have_ lost my children before – as a human, although that was many hundreds of years ago, and since then. I can assure you that a sire feels the loss… acutely.”

That explained why ‘Taker had taken a special interest in those he had, Randy concluded. He, John and Chris had all turned someone while the others had not, although that didn’t quite explain his interest in Cody – and then it occurred to him. ‘Taker fully expected that at some point, Cody would turn his mate as well. Randy’s eyes flickered from ‘Taker to Ted, noting the marks on his neck that were not subject to their rapid healing, and back again. This was not the time to consider such things.

“To a greater or lesser extent, we are aware of our children forever. Not all of their thoughts and feelings, but their presence. And certainly their loss. I stayed in the area because I could not be sure of arriving back in time to intercept my younger brother before he sensed that loss.”

John grew very still. “Kane? He’s _here?”_

“He is.” ‘Taker fixed his attention on John. “Although there’s nothing for you to fear from him John. I have spoken with him since his arrival and told him how things are going to be.”

“How can you be sure he’ll listen to you?” asked Randy, suddenly very concerned about this turn of events. They had not had chance to discuss the night before when they had been woken by Chris crashing his way down the stairs (and leaping over the stairs just like Evan would) but he knew what John and ‘Taker had told him in the past and he knew that Kane was the crazy one; if ‘Taker had all but forgotten the human part of them then Kane was the one who truly embraced the potential for destruction and chaos.

A shadow of something that might have been amusement passed over ‘Taker’s face. “A vampire always has to listen when compelled by his sire.”

There was a dead silence at this and even John seemed to be stunned. As per usual though, ‘Taker didn’t seem to care much about the reactions. “Kane must have run like the devil himself to get here before sunup yesterday but he was spurred on by grief – as hard as it must be for you to understand, Dave was still one of our clan and Kane has no reason to care what havoc his childe wrought on humanity, or on you. To you he was a monster, to Kane – not so much. And he was enraged, swearing vengeance on whoever had managed to fell his childe after so many centuries.”

John reached out, let his fingers brush against Randy’s. “What happened?”

“I reminded him that these are the _old_ ways, the ones we were used to before our kind grew smart and stopped warring with one another. If one wages a war on another clan, they can expect a swift and bloody retribution. But it has to end somewhere and I ended it there. Kane didn’t like it but he _will_ listen to me. He has been compelled to and he mourns, but he will be leaving with me this evening.”

“Thank you,” said John, unaware he was going to say anything until the words left his mouth.

“Yeah,” added Randy and then seemed to realise his own words didn’t quite connect with the old-fashioned formality of the ‘Taker’s – he liked to get out into the world and among people, less so since John had come onto the scene, and his manner of speech had flowed quite naturally over the years. “I mean, thanks. For dealing with Kane and for coming here and letting us know. We all appreciate it.”

‘Taker nodded, his eyes roaming the clan again. “John, Randal. Come with me a moment.”

Randy hadn’t expected that, although he had known that ‘Taker would probably want to speak with John when he left, but he merely nodded and walked out with ‘Taker, John at his side and the rest of the clan no doubt dying of curiosity. They walked in silence to the courtyard where Randy got his first good look at ‘Taker’s ride; a vintage Harley heritage softail classic. Randy had a nice bike (three nice bikes actually) but he wore them hard and seeing something so nice and obviously well cared for – well, it was a thing of beauty and he was seriously considering a little grand theft auto…

“You’re drooling,” murmured John with a smile.

‘Taker turned his attention to them. “Your childe has fed from his human.”

“Yeah, he did,” said Randy rather warily.

“Ted insisted,” added John.

“I’m not surprised.” ‘Taker looked a little distant. “That one has real potential. May I ask why you turned your other children’s mates? There are clearly years between them.”

“It was the times,” replied Randy, feeling the question a little intrusive. “Shawn and Christian both, they were sick – different things but same results… anyway, since I was older I thought I’d be more likely to survive ingesting their blood at times like that.” He looked a little embarrassed. “It wasn’t ‘til Chris that I realised I didn’t have to be the one to kill them before I could bring them back. And I only found that out because I didn’t want Chris to die.”

‘Taker almost smiled at that. “You’ve found a home here John?”

John nodded. “Yeah. This is where I wanna be.”

“I can think of few places better for you.” ‘Taker looked a little wistful. “It would be nice if our clan were so in harmony with one another, without the fighting and hatred between my children and Kane’s. But the responsibility is what it is and better for them to be confined then to take their war to the world as they once did.” He shook his head. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”

John almost choked and Randy thought he detected a glimmer of amusement on ‘Taker’s face before he resumed his seriousness. “If you should need me again, you have merely to ask for my help. You are my childe—“ He glanced at Randy a moment. “My lineage and I am very grateful that some part of me has something like peace.”

~:~

Nodding his head –because he knew that this wasn’t an offer he should dismiss lightly, and the part of him that was linked to ‘Taker as child and sire felt pleased and reassured by it even despite himself- John quirked a smile, “I’ll keep it in mind,” he assured even as his hand reached for Randy’s, linking their fingers together, “But I think I’ll be alright from now on.” Again, the briefest glimpse of what Randy swore was a smile appeared on ‘Taker’s face before it was gone, the huge man swinging his leg astride the bike. He then locked eyes with Randy who tilted his head, “Look after him, Randal.”

Were ‘Taker anyone else then Randy would probably have belted him in the jaw for using his full name like that, but as it was he merely nodded his head, “I will,” and that wasn’t a lie. John, as his mate, was the most important part of Randy’s existence—and that even counted over his children, though he would lay his life down on the line for them as well. On that note ‘Taker started up the bike and vanished into the darkness, the tail-lights the only thing visible in the gloom, even to their advanced eyes, once he reached a specific distance away. Releasing a breath John squeezed Randy’s hand slightly and sent him a small smile of relief.

“Well, that’s one thing off of our list,” he commented lightly. He didn’t know how he could have exactly explained Kane to the clan and his mate without using words that would only seem lie bad clichés; the man would have made Dave look like a complete pussy-cat, especially if he was coming after them with the self-righteous notion of revenge in mind. “Yeah,” Randy agreed, though the alpha-male part of him wouldn’t lie; he would have been curious to see just what the deal was with ‘Taker’s brother. “Let’s go back inside,” John said, “I think we need to calm everyone down.” It was pretty much undocumented that someone had snuck into their home before.

Leading the way back inside Randy then arched a brow as he watched Chris and Hunter engaging in what appeared to be an attempt to choke one another out. Ted was watching the interaction wide-eyed and Cody was ensuring he was kept well out of the way Adam was egging them on as Christian read a magazine that he had found from somewhere, and Evan and Shawn were trying to pry their mates apart. Rolling his eyes slightly Randy then raised the level of his voice and called, “What the fuck is going on in here?” Hunter and Chris immediately dropped one another almost causing their mate’s to fall backwards at the sudden loss of force.

The usually neat Chris was looking most aggrieved then, a muscle ticking in his cheek. Hunter also seemed to be getting his (as Cody had once called them) ‘game face’ on, both men squaring up to one another. Ted swore that he could smell the testosterone involved and he didn’t have hyper aware senses the way that the others did. Actually, he’d completely missed what had happened. One minute they were talking about ‘Taker and then suddenly Hunter had said something to Chris and the man had dove at him, telling Hunter he was going to break his jaw if he didn’t shut up. Evan was giving his mate a chiding look and Shawn looked equally unamused.

Of course such a spat was nothing serious but they could do without having some internal discourse… and Randy had the feeling that the leftover adrenaline and animalistic nature of the night before had been lingering in their systems somewhat and had sparked the second there had been something of an excuse for lashing out. “If you’re both finished?” Randy arched a brow and Ted watched in some amusement as Hunter and Chris both seemed to slowly slump down into the seats they had recently vacated as though they were a pair of chastised children. Which, he thought somewhat bemused, they probably were. That was an odd thought indeed.

Shaking his head somewhat in obvious dismissal of their antics Randy then turned his attention back to the group. “Well, you heard the man: we’ve nothing to fear concerning his brother and we can carry on as usual.” He then glanced towards the TV and said, “Christian, turn the news on for us, will you?” they needed to keep tabs to see if anything had been reported concerning their little fire last night. And, sure enough, there was a small segment on it. Apparently they could only tell that some debris must have been burnt by some hobos or children larking around. Needless to say that statement amused the gathered vampires to some degree.

Ted though, found himself struggling with something. Even if Dave had been burned –and his stomach turned over somewhat at the thought despite himself- surely the cops and that would have known that a human body had been what had caused the ash. Turning to Cody he started to ask the question in what he thought was a whisper, but to his shock Christian was the one that answered him; he was the one with the medical knowledge after all. Needless to say Ted was surprised to learn that the constitution of vampires’ bodies wasn’t exactly the same straightforward human schematics as they once were, despite the fact that they looked the same.

“Really?” he found himself asking, attempting to wrap his head around the matter. Sure, he’d not been terrible at biology when he was in school but this was hardly something that he would have found in a textbook was it? The short-haired blonde nodded his head and said, “Absolutely. We sort of… Well, when our bodies are… exposed to fire, or sunlight, they begin to disintegrate. Almost like… if you burn stone, that sort of appearance. We crumble, and yes, eventually our remains turn into ash but, as you saw then, we don’t come up as ‘human’.” He smiled at Ted in such a disarmingly light-hearted way that you would have thought they were discussing the weather.

Cody rubbed Ted’s back –he could tell that this was a lot for the other to take in- and nodded to Christian in silent thanks; he knew that he wouldn’t have been able to explain it too well, and especially not in the simple terms that the former med-student had used. The Canadian merely nodded back before glancing back to the news. Though they were admittedly under little affect from wars, murderers and suchlike it was always good to keep abreast of what was going on in the human world just in case. There was the odd chance that they would deal with them after all, and they had to do their best not to appear ‘outdated’ and suspicious.

Watching the interaction Randy had to admit that Ted’s ability to adjust to news was rather impressive; he hadn’t seen anyone so accepting of their lifestyle since Evan, though admittedly Evan was somewhat more prepared for their lifestyle than Ted had been. The sire’s brow furrowed somewhat; what if Ted never intended to be turned though? Though there was no doubt in his mind that Cody would probably still adore Ted even if the man reached his fifties or beyond, he doubted that Ted would be as OK with still being with Cody if that happened. How would it look if they were seen in public? Of course there was more to it than appearances.

One day Ted might want something more, might want children, or a normal life--- and Cody would never dream of standing in the way of Ted’s wishes, Randy knew. He knew that his child would rather spend the rest of his existence miserable and alone than be an obstacle to Ted’s happiness. At the same time though, he acknowledged, that could be the opposite: Ted might _want_ to one day become one of them and Cody might refuse it. It wasn’t an easy thing to turn someone, especially someone to whom you were close to, and who there was no _reason_ (i.e. illness or impending death) to turn them… Chris had been the proof of that after all.

“You’re thinking too hard,” John murmured into his mate’s ear after a few moments of the man not moving even a fraction, so lost in his thoughts that he was forgetting to indulge himself in the ‘human’ gestures. It was something that all vampires had to get used to if they wanted to fit into normal society; they had to remember to shift and stretch and blink. Despite having an inkling of what was on his mate’s mind, John couldn’t tell _exactly_ what he was thinking right then. Sex was the only time when thoughts came through as _clear_ as they did. Generally it was just a sense of understanding… Randy quirked a small smile to his mate, “Nothing.”

At John’s arched brow Randy shook his head and murmured, “Nothing serious, OK?” hopefully the most serious thing he would need to attend to in future was stocking up their blood-bank stocks, “Just… little things.” And he knew that it was ‘Taker honing in on the fact that Ted had been fed from by Cody that had spurred the thoughts coming forward in his own mind. “Alright,” John said, knowing that if it was something that Randy wanted to share then he would… it seemed that they had both had a reminder-course in private-matters honesty after everything that had happened recently. “Don’t let your mind get too bogged down though, hm?” he nudged him.

“Alright,” Randy said, echoing John’s earlier words, glancing around at his little clan. It was funny, actually, seeing them all gathered together like this. It was as though they hadn’t been out the night before mutilating and burning the body of a dangerous threat to all of their existences. It was as though everything was back as it had been--- though Cody was no longer sulking and pining the way that he had before Ted had come back into his life. No, his youngest child was at ease, content. When the vampire in question and his human lover suddenly excused themselves he glanced at John a little, brow arching. Surely they wouldn’t be doing anything like _that_ again so soon?

In the hallway, meanwhile, Cody was heading towards the games room with Ted. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He had sensed that there was something on his mate’s mind when they had left the room before, and he had the feeling that it wasn’t exactly to do with Dave. “Let’s… Wait until we’re out of the way, OK?” he asked. He didn’t want to risk someone accidentally happening upon them because the conversation he was hoping to have with Cody was rather delicate in nature. Nothing to do with _them_ exactly, but someone close to them. Of course he was referring to Evan; he couldn’t get the other’s comments from before out of his mind and it was rather distracting.

Puzzled, Cody obediently nodded and headed upstairs with Ted. Once they were inside of their game room he sat down on one of the large, squashy armchairs in there and asked, “What’s on your mind baby?” since he was pretty clueless as to what Ted might want to talk about Cody merely had to wait for the other to open up to him. And that was, as he had said before, something that couldn’t be rushed… especially when Ted looked as confused as he did right then, as though he himself wasn’t entirely sure what was on his mind. Ted sat down beside Cody, but when Cody pulled him onto his lap he didn’t protest, settling against his chest.

“Cody…” he started, fiddling with one of the buttons on Cody’s shirt, avoiding his lover’s eyes momentarily. That was a fail-safe sign that Ted was about to ask something that he wasn’t sure he was allowed to ask--- something that further confused Cody because he was sure that he had never given the other cause to believe that there was _anything_ that he couldn’t ask about if he was curious. What Ted _did_ ask him though was admittedly something that Cody wasn’t exactly expecting. “What was Evan doing before he came here? Before he was turned?” that was the implication he had gotten from Evan. Whatever he was doing had stopped as soon as he’d got with Chris.

Momentarily Cody hesitated; it wasn’t as though they were going to be gossiping about Evan, per se, but what he knew about Evan was somewhat private information and he wasn’t sure whether Evan wouldn’t prefer to tell Ted for himself one day when he was used to him. “I don’t know if it’s maybe as bad as you might be thinking,” he admitted, “And I’m guessing from the fact that you’re asking me he said something?” when Ted nodded Cody frowned momentarily in thought; that made it slightly less clear-cut for him whether he was supposed to say anything or not. “Well… Evan didn’t have a job per se when Chris met him, he was doing odd jobs when he found them.”

Despite having always been deceptively intelligent Evan’s home life had meant that he had never had the chance to quite fulfil that potential. “Evan ran away from home when he was about fourteen,” Cody said, Ted’s eyes widening in shock. “His dad was an alcoholic and Evan’s mum had run off with his younger brother about two or three years before. No one quite knows why she didn’t take Evan with her, but, regardless, he was left with their father and things were… difficult to say the least.” He rubbed Ted’s side, “So, anyway, he didn’t end up going to school as much as he should, and was working odd-jobs to try and keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach.”

~:~

“Whoa.” Ted frowned slightly. “So, he was what, just doing something casual when Chris met him?”

“When he went chasing down Chris,” Cody corrected with a small smile. “He worked in a restaurant, serving food, washing pots, running the till. Pretty much everything except for the cooking, he wasn’t qualified to do that. I don’t think it was any great hardship for him to leave that behind when Chris asked him to move into the manor.”

“So, was it a long time before he moved in?”

“Once he got Chris where he wanted him?” Cody chuckled a little at the thought, Evan was nothing if not persistent and he had heard all about Evan’s relentless pursuit of the handsome stranger that had intervened when someone tried to snag his wallet. “Not really. I’m not sure they even discussed it, Evan came back with him one night and uh, they might have been seeing each other but that was the first night that anything really happened. And then Chris just didn’t want him to leave. You’ve seen how Chris is with Evan. He was just a staple of the house from that moment on. I guess they must have gotten his things but I don’t know the practicalities.”

“So he never worked? Once he was living here I mean.”

Cody frowned. “Is this about your _job?”_

“No. Well – not entirely. I really did wonder what Evan was talking about but… well, I’ve not been chipping in lately and I just wondered about – well, everything.”

Cody chuckled a little – Ted had always been very inflexible when it came to paying his own way. He had a hard enough time letting Cody pay for the occasional date and while he didn’t mind paying for Cody, he had to be almost browbeaten before he would let the favour be returned.

“I left them a message,” Ted told Cody, as if imparting something of great import and secrecy – and to Ted, it probably was. Cody had taken a more laid-back approach to work; he wasn’t tardy or constantly pulling a sickie but it wasn’t something he felt bad about doing on occasion. Whereas Ted was more fastidious about his job, or had been. “I told them that I was taking some personal time starting now, even though it was before I knew I’d be coming here. I slept in really late anyway…”

That was his fault, Cody realised guiltily. Sometimes it was easy to forget that humans had certain habits and responsibilities that they didn’t and although he’d spared a thought for Ted’s family, he hadn’t considered certain other parts of his life.

“I don’t think I’ll be welcomed back there,” Ted mused. “I’ve uh, had a lot of time off over the last couple of years and I wasn’t doing such a good job when I was there. Probably they’ll use this as an excuse.”

Another stab of guilt and Cody winced. “Teddy—“

“I don’t care,” Ted told him before he could apologise. “I’d much rather be here with you, you know that. It’s more important than any job. I’ve got some money stashed away…”

He trailed off and Cody remembered; they’d been saving up to get married. The account had been joint and most likely the contents had gone to Ted when he had died. He didn’t see Ted spending what was there on some wild purchase or exotic holiday, not in the throes of his grief, although he was sure that people had tried to persuade him to do just that. Ted got back on track. “Anyway, I can pay my way and I wouldn’t feel right about—“

“Ted.” Cody’s voice was gentle. “This is hard to describe and don’t take it the wrong way, but your money’s not needed. Vampires live such long lives that we can easily afford to wait for investments to make plenty of money and there’s the shit we accumulate over the years that’s worth plenty—“ He hesitated a moment. “There’s a lot to live off and not all of it was gotten legally but all that was done with a long time ago. None of us need to steal or borrow or work because the bank accounts kept on accumulating money, Still do. You’re no drain on the finances.”

Ted looked around. “I kinda guessed you weren’t hurting for it when I saw this place, but I don’t like just walking in here and expecting to be taken care of. It – I don’t know Cody. It’s hard enough to feel like an equal member of the household as it is.”

 _Because he was human_ , Cody realised. This had plenty to do with _that_ too, and what had happened the night before. “Ted, you’re hardly a kept man.”

Ted looked like he might object to the term but Cody silenced him by placing a finger to his lips. “Probably you’d hand over the money and it’d still be waiting where ever it was left weeks later. We don’t put a lot of stock in it. It makes life a lot easier, I won’t lie to you, but it really doesn’t _matter_ , it barely figures. We have lots and we don’t use much. You’re not a burden and it’s pretty damned important for us to have you around. You’re doing _us_ the favour.”

Cody took a breath. “Do you know how things were while I was here and you weren’t?”

When Ted shook his head, Cody managed a wry smile. “I imagine I was a lot like you were, only I _knew_ you were alive out there somewhere and hurting. And then as time went on, I started to be afraid that you’d forget all about me and move on.”

“I could _never_ have forgotten you,” said Ted, quietly but fiercely. “Not _ever_.”

Cody pressed a kiss to his forehead and continued. “The thing is baby, I was in this manor. I couldn’t leave alone. I couldn’t leave _at all_ for a while because – well, it’s different for Evan, everything he needs or wants is right here and he only goes out to be entertained. And even so, he doesn’t get to go alone until he’s entirely under control, he doesn’t even get to go out with _me_. Because when we’re still learning, it can be hard for us not to react, not to act in accordance with our natures. It’s hard for us to fake human all the time. For me, it was different. I had to be physically restrained for about three weeks because I was more than willing to smash through a window to get free and find you. It didn’t matter how much Randy told me that I’d do more harm than good the way I was and that I wasn’t safe, I _wanted_ it – and we find it so much harder to not just take what we want than humans do. Our control isn’t that great at the best of times. After that, I still tried to make breaks for it occasionally, until it sank in that if I ever wanted to see you again, I needed to learn restraint and I needed to learn it fast. But—“  
  
He frowned slightly as he considered how he was going to say what he needed to. “Having you around has made everyone’s lives easier. Do you have any idea what it was like living with me when I was just – desolate? It was hard. I could make any atmosphere oppressive, even when I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t look at everyone knowing that their mates were with them without feeling horribly jealous, and then feeling horrible _because_ I was jealous. I didn’t want them to be unhappy but it was hard for me to see them that way when I knew you were out there. And then John showed up and Chris bonded with Evan and I was moping around, missing you and just wanting nothing more than you to be with me. I _was_ happy for them Teddy, but it’s hard to be happy for someone when they’ve got what you want. And I knew that if only I could make it back to you… and now you’re here. In spite of all the shit with Dave, this house hasn’t felt so light since I’ve been here. They’re not scared of touching each other while I’m around. And that’s all down to you.”

Ted stared back at Cody, fighting an uncharacteristic urge to apologise and then cry. He had known how hard it had been for him, but he hadn’t entirely realised how _emotionally_ hard it had been for Cody. He had known it was hard of course, he had known that Cody had worked _really_ hard and it was all down to him, that he wanted to be with him, but he hadn’t realised the extent to which Cody had missed him, how heartbroken he had been to be parted from Ted. How alone he had been.

His arms went around Cody’s neck and he kissed his lover fiercely, Cody responding in kind , growling slightly as he heard Ted’s heart speed up. Cody’s hands stroked through Ted’s hair, feeling more emotional than he had intended. But he’d _had_ to tell Ted what he meant, he would do anything at all to make Ted feel better about staying. He had understood that it would be a change for him but he _needed_ Ted there with him. Otherwise there was no point at all in him having lived through his own death.

“I won’t leave you Cody,” Ted murmured when they had separated, a hand resting on either side of Cody’s face. “I won’t. _Ever_.”


	16. Letting Your Hair Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all of the recent stress the Clan decide to have a little night out, and Randy finds himself considering future ramifications concerning Cody and Ted

There was something of a livelier atmosphere in the living room that night, although it had taken everyone a while to get over their subdued airs after the night before and the unexpected arrival of the ‘Taker. No one wanted to leave the manor it seemed, although usually at least four of the clan were likely to go out to let off steam, before Evan’s arrival it would have been five of them. Randy didn’t think it would be too long before they did just that, went out and partied, the only question would be _when_ and if Chris decided to go along with them. Chris had been a complete party animal in life and it took more than being dead for nearly fifty years to quell that. But Chris had calmed and he had Evan to think about now, his responsibility was to keep an eye on his mate because he wasn’t ready to fend for himself out in the world yet. Whether or not Cody and Ted went along… well, Cody was apt to be selfish on that score. He wouldn’t want Ted to be out of his arms just yet and Ted seemed more than content to be with his lover at all times, for the moment at least. Personally Randy thought it might do them some good but he wasn’t about to push them into anything. He had to admit that Cody seeking out Ted the moment he was able wasn’t unexpected at all but he hadn’t known how well it would go – there had been the chance that Cody would return to the manor even more despondent and unhappy, without Ted. As it happened, his youngest child seemed to have gained real happiness by his mates presence and that in turn had made the entire clan easier to live with, less on edge.

For the most part at least. There had been the incident with Chris and Hunter earlier that still wasn’t completely resolved given the dirty looks they were giving each other. They were trying to hide it with over-friendliness but there was still the tension. He could understand it, it had been a trying time and although Hunter had been involved in a couple of ugly confrontations over the years, Chris really hadn’t. That was the trouble with being family; they were close but anyone in close proximity to others for an extended length of time was going to end up with a personality clash somewhere along the line, especially in times of high stress.

He didn’t think there was going to be any imminent battle between them though, they seemed to be at least making the effort and hanging out together, if mildly aggressively, so Randy left them and headed for the kitchen. Somewhere in the house he could hear Ted’s heart and he didn’t think he had another feeding to consider… although he recognised the signs. After a while, some humans got addicted to being fed from, not necessarily the act itself but the emotions that the act brought about, the adrenalin and the sense of well-being. That was usually the point where he commanded them to forget and sent them on their way. It varied from person to person – strangely enough, the reason that Chris had ended up as one of them was that he _hadn’t_ shown those signs when he was human. He had been more than happy for Randy to feed but he hadn’t seemed to actively seek or need it. Otherwise Randy would have been forced to take his memories and leave him behind and then Chris would have been elsewhere that night instead of heading off to meet Randy and having an unexpected meeting with an immovable object. He had been an exception though. After a while, almost all their sheep seemed to _crave_ being fed from.

Ted was _not_ an exception but Randy had _never_ known the need to hit them after one feeding. He wondered if it was linked to Ted and Cody being mates; even if they couldn’t be bonded it couldn’t be denied. But there lay the problem, it wasn’t like they could simply compel Ted to forget and send him on his way. It was a worry, but there was simply nothing that could be done until things got too serious to be denied or else resolved themselves.

He had the doleful feeling that they would hit the wall sooner rather than later though. There was the _mates_ aspect to consider.

His plan was to grab himself a cup of O Positive from the fridge – although he had fed well from John and John from him, they did need to top up sometimes and it had been very stressful recently. If they were to keep up feeding from one another every night, they couldn’t merely keep swapping blood from one to another, it didn’t work that way. But when he got to the kitchen he sensed something outside and stopped, on guard until he realised he recognised the little engine sound that was approaching the courtyard. He sighed. Layla. Just what he didn’t need that night, she was supposed to show at dawn and it was nowhere near.

The rest of the clan had to know that she was there but she was ignored. Randy made his meal and was leaning against the counter sipping it when she walked in, as overdressed as ever, laying a hand against her chest as if startled. For a moment Randy wondered if she could be Ted’s link to humanity and then dismissed the thought. He didn’t doubt that they would both see each other as competition.

“Hi Randy,” she said coyly, heading to the sink.

“What are you doing here Layla?”

“I know I’m early but I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d get a headstart.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “What’s new?”

_You have no idea_ thought Randy, but merely gave her a one-shouldered shrug. “Nothing.”

Layla nodded, taking some cleaning stuff from under the sink. “Where’s Cody?”

“Off with Ted somewhere.”

A frown crossed her attractive features. “Still?”

It was Randy’s turn to frown. “What do you mean, still?”

“Well…” Layla turned to look at him. “He’s left Cody here for two whole years. He hasn’t been around to help him and I would have thought that made him y’know, flaky. It’s like I said, Cody needed him and he’s only just shown up. That’s hardly the kind of behaviour you’d expect from a fiancé, they’re supposed to be around to support you always. I know that if it was me, I would have been right here to—“

“You _said_ that to him?” Randy couldn’t quite get his head around the audacity, the interference in something she knew nothing about. Cody hadn’t mentioned it, but they’d all been distracted. “You said that to Cody?”

Layla seemed to realise that she wasn’t exactly miss popular for letting that detail slip and rallied. “Not to Cody. Ah, to Ted. Well, someone needed to tell him he couldn’t just walk back into Cody’s life like he hadn’t neglected him for so long!”

~:~

Unbidden a low growl rose from Randy’s throat and Layla had the sense to back away from him a little; she might never have ever been harmed by any of them before but despite all of her romanticised notions about vampires the ravenette wasn’t under any qualms that they were dangerous… and the fastest way to see that was to piss one off. Squaring her shoulders somewhat –probably subconsciously attempting to enhance her chest as she did so- Layla huffed and said, “Well it’s true! He’s been off doing whatever for two years and Cody’s been here—“Randy suddenly appeared right in front of her and Layla squealed before falling back into the kitchen side somewhat.

One of the noises the pair had made seemed to have attracted attention because John was suddenly in the doorway. “What’s going on?” he addressed his mate, seeing the cleaner recoiling back from his extremely unhappy looking lover. “It seems,” Randy said, tone dripping with scorn, “That dearest Layla,” even John winced at the bitterness of the supposed endearment, “—has been attempting to drive a wedge between our newly reconciled Cody and Ted.” John’s brows rose at that; Layla had never made any secret of the fact that she had always preferred Cody above all, but he never would have expected even from her that she would be a home-wrecker.

“I know I’ve been pretty lenient on this until now,” John was clearly the one being addressed but Layla was still being pinioned by Randy’s gaze, undoubtedly keeping her in place. When confronted with them human’s survival instincts kicked in, whether that instinct be to run or stay to try and avoid antagonising the predator, “But enough is enough.” Randy’s hand lashed out like a striking snake, not gripping the woman tight enough to hurt but with enough force to keep her from moving her head as Randy prepared to unleash the full power of suggestion on her. “You’ve decided to leave here,” Randy intoned, “You wish to seek employment elsewhere now.”

He seemed to consider his words for a moment before then adding on, “Working nights no longer suits you. You’ve parted from us on good terms and once you’ve left the estate grounds you won’t remember anything about us being vampires or anything else related to our dealings.” Layla’s lipstick-stained mouth had turned slack, her dark, mascara-lined eyes, glazed over. John watched the proceedings with something only mildly connected to concern; though it was rare for a human to experience adverse effects to their powers of suggestion it did happen, and John knew that they could all do without having to deal with that sort of mess.

Eventually though, Layla nodded, her voice coming out almost mechanically stiff as she said, “I’m sorry, Randy… Short notice… Decided to look for work elsewhere now…” Randy released her chin and placed a hand on the small of her back, picking up her purse from the kitchen table with the other and steering her out to the front door. He stilled as he noticed Ted and Cody coming downstairs; since he had yet to see them that evening he supposed that Ted had probably decided that he was finally hungry; he knew for sure that they had yet to have actual intercourse, or indeed do anything sexual with one another since the other night. He cocked his head at his child.

Initially Cody looked confused, but Randy was more focused on Ted’s expression as opposed to his child’s; the man looked angry and ill-at-ease in himself all at once, and he knew exactly why that was now. Giving his most genuine smile (and smiling had admittedly never been especially easy for Randy—he was more used to smirking or sneering) Randy then said cheerily, “Layla’s just come by to say goodbye,” he gave Cody a look and his child’s eyes widened, “She’s leaving her position here at the manor, she’s going to work somewhere else.” Layla had an odd, slightly vacant smile on her face as she nodded, voice still robotic, “Goodbye… Cody… Ted.”

Hearing the obviously unnatural tone Ted’s brow furrowed; that was certainly not right. However, he how no idea what would have caused it, and because he’d only ever read vaguely about suggestion and other vampiric powers in that book before there was no way he would have known what to look for. “Um,” Cody floundered, “Bye, Layla. See you… sometime.” Ted also voiced a goodbye, and it was possibly the most emotionally genuine thing he had ever said to her. Apart from when he had lost his temper at her in the kitchen because she had been encroaching into territory that had nothing to do with her at all. Soon, the door was closing behind her.

Silence reined for several long moments before Cody then asked, “Randy… what happened?” Randy sent his child the best innocent look that he could, “What?” he said, knowing that Cody had obviously recognised the nature of his suggestive powers even though it had been a while since Randy had used them upon him personally or upon anyone else in the clan. “She wanted to leave; she didn’t like working night-times anymore.” A small snort came from Ted, but the blonde looked away as Cody looked at him in obvious puzzlement. Randy had a feeling he knew what the blonde was feeling though, even if they had no bona fide connection.

The blonde was probably thinking that it was very rich of Layla to be saying that he had abandoned Cody and reckoned that she was ready for what their lifestyle entailed considering that she was just up and abandoning the place out of nowhere. Cody seemed a bit uncertain, as though in the back of his mind he knew he was missing something, but because he couldn’t pinion the point he had decided to just let it go. Reaching for Ted’s hand he said, “Come on baby let’s get you something to eat,” Randy arched a brow and called after them, “Make sure you have something as well, Cody!” the young vampire waved to him before then heading into the kitchen.

It wasn’t unheard of for a vampire, any vampire, regardless of their age or experience, when they first supped their mate’s blood especially, to get a little complacent by thinking that they could last on it much longer than they actually could. And if Cody happened to get careless himself, whether he meant it to or not, then it could end up having serious ramifications--- especially if he ever intended to feed from Ted again. The sire had no idea whether that was going to happen though because Cody had seemed pretty firm about not taking from Ted out of greed, and chances were that would still remain in place had it not been for their confrontation with Dave.

When he returned to the living-room he found John waiting for him there, moving across to his mate and sitting down on the other’s lap without much thinking about it. It might not have seemed like the position a sire would adopt, but considering John was his sire it was sort of a different situation. “Everything alright now?” John asked and Randy nodded, rolling his shoulders and reclining back against John’s chest somewhat, “Yeah, it’s fine, got it sorted. We shouldn’t be seeing Layla here anymore.” And if they did? Well… things wouldn’t be too good for Layla, and he didn’t mean that as in he was going to threaten her or anything like that.

John nodded, rubbing a hand gently up and down Randy’s stomach as he closed his eyes momentarily. Despite the fact that he seemed outwardly calm and controlled internally there was still a part of him that was struggling to adjust to these most recent changes of his lifestyle. No more Dave. After centuries and centuries of being haunted by his guilt and nightmares concerning the elder vampire he was no more. And Kane could have been a potential problem if it weren’t for his sire. Master ‘Taker might be seen as some sort of psychopath in human psychological terms but his efforts with regard to safeguarding them showed some sense of humanity.

_However small and vague that sense was,_ he amended in his head, since it was hardly something he could completely claim Master ‘Taker had. Chris and Hunter were now on the Wii, seeming to need some way of venting out their frustrations on one another in another way since it wouldn’t be acceptable for them to fight physically. Evan was curled up on Chris’ usual armchair, watching the proceedings with lazy eyes. Shawn was fiddling on his phone, probably attempting to play the games or change his wallpaper… The man still struggled with the relatively new contraptions even now. Christian and Adam were looking through a catalogue.

Or, more likely Adam was attempting to wheedle Christian into buying him things from the catalogue even though he was more than capable of buying them for himself. It was just one of those things. Turning his face into John’s neck Randy merely held there, using the intimate position to get comfortable. “What are you thinking about?” John murmured, so quietly that only Randy would hear it, and Randy took a moment to compose his thoughts before saying, “I was just trying to consider the best way to convince you to buy me a bike like ‘Taker has. I’ve decided against robbing his.” John’s sudden laughter drew the attention of the room’s occupants, all cocking their heads curiously.

~::~

“It’s enough to make you cry,” Cody said as he watched Ted stirring the pan of spaghetti pasta that was boiling away happily, “I loved spaghetti so much… and garlic bread,” he whined, Ted glancing over his shoulder apologetically. “I suppose it takes a long time to adjust to it?” he asked and Cody nodded, looking almost embarrassed. “I didn’t listen to Randy when he said that eating solid foods would make us sick… and I decided that I could eat a McDonald’s.” He shuddered and shook his head, “I didn’t know which was worse; tasting it and then having it ripped away or wasting perfect junk food by just bringing it back up…” he mewed miserably, “I can’t even eat ice-cream!”

And that was hardly what one could continue a ‘solid’ food. “Want to help me?” Ted asked, wondering if helping would only make it worse for Cody or distract him enough that it wouldn’t matter. As he had expected Cody all but eagerly bounced off of his seat at the table and moved over to him, “What do you want me to do?” Ted asked him to cut the pepper and onion that he had set aside on the little chopping-board, and Cody was keen to help out. Once the meal was finished and dishes up though two portions were made from it. Ted looked somewhat rueful and said thoughtfully, “I, well, I suppose I could always have that one tomorrow or something…”

Even after two years he was struggling with the prospect of cooking meals for one that he had always been so used to making for two. Cody nodded, leaving the plate on the side to cool down before moving Ted’s plate to the table for him--- if Ted was distracted with his own food then he wouldn’t watch Cody preparing himself a little snack. He was completely oblivious though to the fact that Ted was watching the process closely indeed… and was it bad that he actually felt _jealous_ that Cody was drinking out of a damn packet instead of from him? Almost as soon as the thought occurred to him though Ted immediately tried to push it away.

He had read about the ‘addiction’ feeding could cause but he was sure that that wasn’t what he was feeling. There was more to it than that. Maybe it was because of the fact that the other vampires could tend to their mates’ needs on a more regular basis than he could for Cody. Though, as he had proved before, that wasn’t through want of trying. Lifting his spoon up Ted then used it to neatly twirl his spaghetti onto his spoon; he had never used to bother when he was a child and often made a terrible mess of himself--- a few threats of his mother never letting him have the meal again had spurred him to try and eat it neatly, though he’d learnt the spoon trick from Cody.

And it seemed his lover had noticed because when he moved to sit opposite him he was smiling in that way that had always made Ted’s stomach do flip-flops as though he’d been on top of a huge ride and suddenly been left to drop. No one had ever affected him the way that Cody had, even with the smallest thing such as a smile. “Hey,” Cody voiced after a moment, “I don’t know if we will, but chances are we might go out sometime soon… do you feel up to a night out?” granted they could stay at the clubs all night and suffer no ill effects of fatigue or through drink but they often didn’t; they stayed out long enough to gain a pleasant buzz and returned home.

The buzz obviously didn’t come from alcohol, but more often than not it just came from being around the humans; their scents were what intoxicated them, but not through any desire since all of them were bonded. Once upon a time they might have taken up some of those on what was often blatantly offered to them--- and sometimes you wouldn’t believe how blatant that actually was. It was downright obscene what some of those people would do for the sake of an attractive face. “You go clubbing?” Ted asked and Cody looked rueful. The blonde amended, “Vampires go clubbing?” and Cody nodded, “We’re a cheap night out at least; we can’t get drunk.”

“Sure,” Ted said, “It’d be nice to go out with you again,” though there was a small part of him that said that that would probably not be a good idea because someone he knew might see him (he’d received numerous calls and texts from his parents, family and friends since he’d pulled his vanishing act but he hadn’t answered any of them; it would create too much unnecessary aggro) but that didn’t much register in his mind. There were lots of clubs in the area and back when he and Cody had visited them they had only ever really visited the same two or three that they preferred. Two were straight, but one was a gay club Cody had introduced Ted to.

Cody had introduced him to a lot in life, and it seemed that even now he was –technically- no longer so, he was still going to be teaching Ted things he never would have considered before. When Ted finished eating Cody insisted on washing his plate and stuff for him, then taking Ted through to one of the other sitting rooms. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to interact with his clan brothers per se but he knew that Ted just liked to sit quietly after he’d eaten and sometimes his clan-brothers could get a little rowdy without meaning to. And their rowdy was slightly more than any sort of rowdy Ted had been exposed to before. Cody laid beside the other on a big, squashy settee.

“I’m glad to know you’re eating properly again, I really am,” Cody murmured, gently rubbing Ted’s stomach. Though the blonde still possessed the muscled definition he’d always had the loss of his stomach’s definition seemed slightly odd. Ted was much too thin to be considered healthy for a man of his size. “Well, you need someone to make an effort with that food,” Ted joked lightly and Cody laughed softly, nodding, “Yeah, that’s true.” When Ted’s hand suddenly caught his own, curling their fingers together he smiled softly. “I love you,” Cody murmured and Ted squeezed their fingers together lightly before saying, “I love you too,” back to his fiancée.

~:~

Ted was rather surprised when Randy collared him shortly before the group retired for the night. He had a moment where he wondered if he’d done something wrong, or whether the vampire thought he’d encroached on their hospitality too long – or god forbid, that he wanted to talk about something related to Ted and Cody’s love life. Ted wasn’t at all comfortable with knowing _everyone_ in the house would know their business in regards to feeding and sex, although he had accepted that it couldn’t be avoided unless _he_ avoided them, but surely the polite thing to do was for everyone to pretend that they had no idea. He hadn’t realised it would be something as mundane as it really was.

“A delivery,” he said flatly when Randy told him what the issue was.

“Sure,” said Randy cheerily. “Usually Layla would be here to sign for everything but with her uh, taking off unexpectedly, there’s no one who can do it – we’re not gonna be around because it’ll still be daylight. Between five and six this evening is typical. All the supermarket shit and anything else we might want off of the internet. I’ve got a little understanding with the post office when it comes to anything too big to go through the mailslot and they’ll be here too. It’d be great if you could just take it all in for us.”

“It’s not a problem,” said Ted, then hesitated slightly. “Uh, since I’ll be up I guess I could do whatever else Layla would have been doing—“

“Nah, don’t bother,” said Randy dismissively. “I’ll hire someone soon enough and mostly she just cleaned up after our messy asses. You try that and the smell of the cleaning stuff disagrees with us. The last thing you want is Cody giving you a wide berth.”

“Damn straight,” said Ted without thinking about it, then blushed a little, changing the subject quickly. “Uh, it’s kinda strange thinking that vampires need stuff from the supermarket.”

“Mostly it’s food and a lot of that’s a cover story – it’s too strange for the locals knowing someone lives here but never seeing us buy anything to eat. You need to eat of course. And there’s the other crap we need. Chris is always buying records, he hates downloading his CDs and you wouldn’t believe how long it took him to switch from vinyl. Evan and Cody both buy books, comic books that kinda thing. Shawn’s a magazine fiend, only they tend to come with the regular post. And Christian spends all our money on e-Bay. We could probably make another fortune selling all his crap.” Randy grinned suddenly. “Hey, there is one thing you can do if you find yourself at a loose end any time. I know Cody’s car’s out of commission still but just borrow one of the others, as long as it’s not one of John’s because he’s protective of his babies. Or the Porsche, no one’s allowed to use that since… well, it’s a long story. _Anyway_ , there’s a homeless shelter where we take all the stuff nearing the use-by.”

“I can manage that, if I get directions.” Ted smirked. “You know, these days you can shop _in_ the shops 24-7.”

Randy looked almost affronted. “Yeah, but it’s _boring_. At least doing it online you can wander off for a while.”

Ted wholeheartedly agreed and that was why when he woke up the following afternoon, he kissed Cody’s cheek and left his lover resting in the bed they shared while he got up. It was still strange that he was able to leave Cody asleep, once upon a time it had been the hardest thing in the world to get out of bed while Cody was still in it, not just because he was reluctant but because Cody seemed to have a radar to tell him when Ted was creeping off. Back when he was human at least, it wasn’t an issue anymore. Ted smiled fondly as he dressed, remembering the Christmas he had hidden a gift for Cody in their apartment and had intended to have it waiting for Cody when they woke – _if_ he could get the damned thing from its hiding place. Cody had woken up and opened his eyes every single time Ted had tried to sneak out and in the end, Ted had been forced to make something up just so he could get Cody back to sleep, get what he needed and actually get some rest before Christmas day dawned.

He had expected a few dollars worth of food, maybe enough to keep one man alive for a week or two and perhaps an armful of parcels that were entirely books and whatever it might be that Christian randomly ordered from e-Bay. Instead he found himself swamped, first with all the things they had bought from the supermarket (and there was _tons_ , far too much for one person, even for five or six people) and then with the rest of the packages, that arrived on the back of a van and took both him and the postman a while to carry into the manor. The postman seemed rather put out that it was Ted rather than Layla helping him out and Ted felt unaccountably guilty that he wasn’t an attractive female.

Putting away the shopping felt so damned _normal_ that it was surreal; finding where everything was hidden and checking everything from washing powder to fruit – who would associate that with living with vampires? Probably not the hundreds of teenage girls who thought those sparkly men that popped up on the celebrity portion of the news he thought with a wry smile. Then again, even vampires needed clean clothes, if not vitamin C. Speaking of which… someone had really stocked up on that and several others too. Ted was puzzled for a while and then realisation dawned; all of them were to counteract the effects of lack of sunlight. He frowned, putting down the bleach he had been dealing with and going back over to the cupboard he’d put them in. There had been a single packet and when he checked, it didn’t seem to have been used for a while. _Evan’s_ he realised. And the new supply was for him. It was… unnerving, even while it was thoughtful. He didn’t know about the token human or a drain on resources, but he was starting to feel quite a lot like the family pet, a replacement for the last puppy who’d been upgraded to clan.

And that was just ridiculous he told himself, putting the tablets away without taking any. Okay, so he hadn’t seen the sun in a while. It wasn’t as if he _couldn’t_ go out, it had just been that the incident with Dave had made it unsafe. And anyway, he had only just been in the courtyard, in the weakening light and he hadn’t disintegrated or anything like that. Although he could admit that the sun had been both pleasant and slightly disturbing, knowing that it was something that could harm Cody meant that he would far rather shun daylight altogether in some bizarre act of solidarity.

The packages for everyone he sorted into piles in the living room, where everyone seemed to congregate as soon as they came downstairs. He distracted himself a little by wondering what everything was. Shawn had one package, something long and heavy and Ted, who had been an avid hunter during his teen years, thought it seemed like a gun – but why would a vampire need a gun? There was nothing else that came to mind though. Something small for Hunter, underpants or a tie perhaps (and Ted didn’t want to dwell on that too much). Nothing for Adam, several padded packages for Christian that could have been just about anything. A large box for Chris that again could have been anything at all, several smaller boxes for Evan all bearing the Amazon logo. And any number of packages for Cody, more than for anyone else. Ted frowned a little. He could tell that they were all clothes of some description but didn’t he have enough? Then he chuckled slightly, Cody was always a bit of a clothes horse, even when he only wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt he had plenty to choose from. And Cody would _never_ wear the same pair of jeans two days in a row unless the circumstances were _very_ exceptional.

Cody was the first down that night, although Ted hadn’t planned on that – he had been caught making a coffee when the sun went down and of course Cody was dressed and looking for him less than five minutes later. Some people might have found it oppressive but Ted knew that after Dave, Cody was still protective of him, not to mention that they had been apart a long time. And Ted had the sneaking suspicion that Cody was still afraid that he would wake up one evening and Ted would be gone, decided that the vampire life was too much for him, no matter how often Ted reassured him that he would give up anything at all as long as he had Cody with him.

He turned around to head back to the bedroom and almost dropped the cup when he realised Cody was stood watching him. “Shit Codes, remember how we talked about making some noise when you move?”

“Sorry babe.” Cody gave a disarming grin and headed over to Ted, wrapping an arm around him and kissing his cheek. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just—“ Ted raised his cup a little to show what he’d been doing. “You hungry?”

“Not right now,” said Cody, a little warily – he wasn’t sure if Ted was going to offer to nuke him a blood packet or offer a vein. And much as Cody knew which he’d prefer, he was very aware of the limitations of his mate.

“Okay,” said Ted – was that a glimmer of disappointment Cody saw in his eyes? “You got a ton of stuff in the post by the way.”

“Cool!” Cody hurried for the living room, Ted following in his wake and wondering what Cody had ordered – if what he’d said about money was true, he’d just bet that the man had gone mad with the designer things that had been relatively rare once upon a time for them. Cody had been saving most of his money toward their wedding and Ted had done exactly the same thing.

“Vampires excited about packages,” mused Ted, leaning in the doorway and sipping his coffee as Cody tore the paper off his products faster than Ted could even see, although he was starting to get used to it. when it came to presents, Cody had been just about faster than the eye even when he was human. “Who would’ve thought?”

“I’m really excited about these ones.” Cody turned to grin at his lover. “These are for you.”

Ted blinked. “Huh?”

“For you!”

Ted looked at the pile of clothes that Cody had ordered for him, apparently when he had been busy doing something else. “Codes, I don’t _need_ anything new.”

Cody gave him a look of pure disbelief. “Baby, you brought two pairs of jeans and a few shirts with you.”

“And there’s a washing machine. And I’ve got tons of stuff back at the apartment! I could’ve just gone back there and picked some stuff up.”

“But…” Cody gave Ted a pleading look. “I wanted to do something nice for you. And I’ll bet that you haven’t bought _anything_ new in years, have you? I remember those damned jeans you brought!”

That at least was true, it hadn’t seemed especially important to look good and his clothes were all functional. But that wasn’t the _point_. “I could choose my own clothes Cody.”

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.” Cody looked a little confused and hurt. “I wasn’t saying anything about your clothes Teddy, I just wanted to buy you a present and I knew you wouldn’t have been shopping…”

Ted bit his lip in the face of Cody’s perplexity – he wasn’t even sure why he was arguing. He _did_ need more if he was to be staying there a significant amount of time and he wasn’t sure he wanted to go back to the apartment. So what was the harm?

He was starting to feel like he wasn’t in control of his own life, that he wasn’t significant except for as a distraction for Cody. _That_ was the harm.

But Cody didn’t think like that, he knew. It was his own paranoia talking and now he was feeling guilty for not being more enthused about the presents. He managed a smile. “I’m grateful Cody, really. I just hope you went for function instead of those ass-huggers I always got for my birthday…”

Cody’s grin resurfaced, although his eyes were still a little uncertain. “You just happen to have an ass that _demands_ attention. I just… make sure that’s displayed.”

“Oh _damn_ ,” groaned Ted and Cody laughed, waving a package at Ted.

“So, get that fine ass over here and see what I’ve bought you!”

Before Ted could make any kind of a move, a hand fell on his shoulder and for the second time that night he nearly dropped his coffee cup, turning his head just in time to see Adam heading past him. There didn’t seem to have been an attempt to make him jump, he just happened to have been in the way when Adam went to make his way past. But they were all so quiet on their feet and so fast that half the time he had no idea anyone was there with him. He couldn’t even hear them breathe.

“Codes, Ted.” Adam shot Ted a wink and a grin. “We were all talking about blowing off some steam, getting out of the manor for awhile and letting our hair down. And we never did celebrate Randy’s bonding with John y’know. We were thinking of hitting a few clubs or something, show the humans how to party. Think if I give you ample preening time, you can be ready in three minutes?”

“Ted,” Cody reminded him.

“Oh yeah.” Adam gave Ted a look that was supposed to be contrite but wasn’t. “You’re just one of us, I keep on forgetting you don’t have the speed thing. Here’s a thought, Ted gets a half-hour to wow us all in. You still only get three minutes because _you_ have to work on talking our daddy into it.” Adam burst into hysterics at the joke. “He listens to you more than us and hey, it’s supposed to be his celebration.”

“You want me to walk into Randy’s room when him and John haven’t emerged yet? I knew you were trying to get my head ripped off.”

“Nah, he can’t be molesting Johnny much longer. Come on Codes, I gotta go help Evvie work on Chris.” Adam rolled his eyes. “You shoulda seen Chris when he first was allowed out, he partied like a rock star.” More laughter. “How d’ya think all those rumours about him still being alive started up? Wasn’t just his missing corpse y’know. But he’s all worried about Evvie being around so many humans – we can get a bit overwhelmed sometimes,” he added, turning to Ted. “The smell and the noise, it can get to us sometimes even when we’re trying to be good. But it doesn’t happen so much when your mate’s there with you and he’s gotta let Ev loose a little if he wants him to learn.”

Cody raised an eyebrow. “And you’re the best person to talk him into that.”

“Absolutely.” Adam grew unusually sober. “Me and Christian nearly came to blows over it, a long time before Chris even got here. We went to some gathering, can’t even remember what it was about but there was a crazy amount of carousing and fun, bonfires and spit-roasts, the whole works. Back when Randy used to make us travel around a lot more and we used to go between Canada and the north. I met Christian and spent most of my time with him for a few years and then he took me to this celebration thing. Next day, about half the people who’d been there came down with scarlet fever, him included. Would’ve killed him if Randy hadn’t have done it first. So I was wary about letting him go anywhere for years and years, especially where there’d be people in massive amounts. Christian hated it though, even if he did know why and in the end I had to _let_ him before he just went ahead and did it without me. ‘Course, I wasn’t Christian’s sire and I couldn’t compel him like Chris could, but it’d cause problems down the line even so.” He shot them both a quick smile. “So I can use all that to my advantage and talk Chris into letting Evan out for the night.”

“What did Christian do?” asked Ted and realised suddenly how that sounded. “I mean uh, before?”

“Same as me. He was a trapper, hunter, fisher, whatever brought in the money or food. And there was always logging. Bit of everything. I suppose it’s not easy to understand for you guys, you’ve been brought up in a different time and you’ve always been expected to pick a career path. Us, we just got on with things. There wasn’t really the choice when you weren’t from a rich family or had a sponsor. Christian, _he_ had a sponsor but he never lived to go off to the hospital and learn. Huh, if it had been today of course he probably would have just been able to take some antibiotics, except the disease has been stamped out.” He looked pointedly at his watch. “Come on you guys, time’s a-wasting!”

When Adam had gone, Ted looked pointedly at Cody. “If you ever call Randy daddy, I might have to stake you on the spot.”

Cody laughed. “Are you serious? We only call him that when we’re taking the piss. And no one except Evan ever dared called John grandpa.” He smiled. “I guess you need the new clothes after all.”

“Guess so.” Ted went over and gathered them up. “I’ll go get changed then.”

“Wear something sexy!” Cody called after him.

“You chose them,” Ted pointed out, looking over his shoulder. “I’ll be lucky if it’s not all completely indecent!”

Cody chuckled, allowing Ted to make his way out and then going to the kitchen, getting himself blood from the fridge as quickly as he could. He didn’t need to have any reason for his treacherous body to lose control. But even heated it tasted – odd. Slightly rank, as if it was on the turn. As far as he knew there was no problem with the fridge but he reminded to ask Randy if anyone else had noticed a problem. He finished with an effort, his stomach lurching slightly and his throat trying to constrict as he swallowed, but after a pause he determined he was going to keep him down. He looked at the cup suspiciously then put it in the sink, forgetting all about it as his stomach righted itself and going upstairs. Randy’s door was still closed and he wasn’t brave enough to knock right then, so he went off to his own room. Ted was still in the shower and Cody changed as fast as he was able for the simple reason that he had always loved lying on the bed and watching Ted get ready, whether it be to go to the office, the gym or for a night out. Every little thing he did was just so _Ted_ that he never got tired of watching.

This was slightly different from when he had been human though. He had always been able to hear the shower running, turn off, Ted’s whistling or humming as he brushed his teeth and shaved. But he’d had to strain to hear it before whereas now it was clear as if there was no door between them and the en-suite (and that wasn’t just because there had never been an en-suite in their apartment). He could feel the warmth that was coming from the steamed-up bathroom even with the door closed, hear the even beating of Ted’s heart and the quiet sounds of him scrubbing his teeth with some force. He could even hear the slight hiss of annoyance when Ted cut himself shaving, smell the smallest hint of blood on the surface. That was when he had to grab the sheets, remind himself that if he were to run in there while Ted was naked and trying to blot the scratch with a piece of tissue, he was very likely to once more go further than he intended. And there was no use in telling himself he was only wanting to seal the wound with his tongue. He knew damned well that wasn’t the reason, even the memory of the taste of Ted’s blood was a thousand times sweeter than the bland unpleasantness he’d choked down earlier.

It hadn’t disagreed with him further though and he was lying on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head and a smile on his face as Ted walked from the bathroom, gave him an amused glance and set about getting ready. This much Ted remembered from back when Cody was human.

~:~

“Did you have something in particular that you wanted me to wear?” Ted asked teasingly as he stood before Cody, hands on his hips and deliciously towel-clad. “Well, if we’re being honest I’d like for you to be wearing nothing at all—“Cody started before he could stop himself, then getting off of the bed at an acceptable speed for Ted before rooting for the specific shirt and jeans combo that he had in mind to cover the moment, “—but since I’ll get into trouble for pulling out the eyes of everyone who looked at you if we did that I’ll need to make do with these.” He proffered the clothes in question to Ted, smiling largely.

A look of amusement covered Ted’s face (he had recognised the previous sentiment for what it was but figured he could gloss over it too; things were still a bit uncertain for them in _that_ department after all) before he accepted the clothes, placing them onto the bed as he went and retrieved himself a set of fresh boxers. Cody bit back a growl of pleasure as Ted’s towel dropped, the man’s back to him and therefore displaying the perfect ass that he had been referring to earlier. Of course he loved Ted for his personality, but you couldn’t deny the sway his fiancé’s beautiful body also had on Cody.

When Ted turned back to Cody he felt his heart-rate pick up considerably—and the way Cody’s fingers suddenly twitched restlessly towards the covers told him that his lover had heard it. In his defence though it was Cody’s fault; that sultry, dark-eyed look from underneath his lashes had never failed to get Ted going in the past, and it had been _so very long_ since he had last seen in… or that they had done what would traditionally follow said look. For a moment neither of them moved, merely looking at one another. By sheer force of will Ted managed to make himself look away, grabbing the jeans he had deposited previously to put on.

As soon as they were on he knew that they were the ‘ass-huggers’ he had always dreaded but was willing to wear for Cody, turning and giving his backside a reproachful little look. He might have lost weight since he had gone through his phase of not eating at all and then not eating anything proper or substantial, none of that weight seemed to have come from his dreaded posterior. “I knew those jeans would look good,” Cody practically purred and Ted felt his stomach give one of the funny little dances it always did when Cody complimented him. “You still brought me ass-huggers, Cody,” he bitched good-naturedly before seeking out his deodorant and aftershave.

All in all, all of that and doing his hair took Ted about fifteen minutes--- though admittedly had Cody been human he would probably have needed an hour before he deemed himself acceptable for being seen in public. Since Cody was already ready the young vampire reluctantly acknowledged that he still had yet to try and convince Randy and John to come out with them. Sure, they could have gone without, but Randy always got nervous when the clan was together without him there in case something happened… and none of them could fault him for that, especially in consideration of recent events and the knowledge of what some clans were like.

Approaching Randy and John’s bedroom door tentatively (with Ted right behind him) Cody then stilled and cocked his head; he couldn’t hear anything inside but that wasn’t always a true indication that nothing was happening. They didn’t, um, _pant_ or otherwise _breathe heavily_ anymore so it wasn’t easy to judge when some of them were up to something. The fact that he couldn’t pick up the atmosphere of sex from the room also meant little; the child’s ability to read the sire was much weaker than the sire’s ability to read the child. Deciding he should get this over with, because for all Adam looked like a carefree layabout he was surprisingly punctual, Cody knocked on the door.

There was a sudden flux of movement from inside and Cody arched a brow before calling, “Randy? Can I come in?” there was a muttered conversation and then John’s voice sounded, admitting them inside. What he saw almost had Cody falling back into Ted in laughter: the very big, very ornate and supposedly sturdy bedframe Randy had, was now currently in pieces. Two of the legs had snapped clean off and the canopy had also been broken in several places. Ted’s eyes were wide as he surveyed the damage, and neither Randy nor John looked particularly contrite… probably more irritated at the thought of attempting to get another bed again.

When Cody had managed to compose himself (and that took a minute or two) he asked innocently, “So you’ll need to dip into the bed-fund will you?” Ted looked confused, but because he was stood behind Cody his mate couldn’t see it. John filled in the human’s puzzlement, “Um, as you can see beds can be a little… flimsy when we’re in them so we all contributed to the fund--- meaning anyone can go into it when they need to replace something for their bed.” Though it was possibly the oddest thing Ted had heard thus far (even over legendary vampires and clans etc.) he couldn’t deny the logic in the move--- especially if the beds were as flimsy as John had alluded to before.

“Cody’s the only one who hasn’t yet been in the fund, in case you were wondering,” Randy inputted absently as he tossed one of the heavy bed legs to the side as though it weighed little more than a skinny pool cue. Ted blushed; it wasn’t as though he’d been thinking about _that._ OK, maybe he had been thinking about it a _little_ bit. Cody also looked a little embarrassed before he then pulled what Ted had always called his _angelic devil_ expression; it was the look that told you Cody was going to use all of his charm offensive on you to make you see things his way. Randy arched a brow and Ted supposed he’d seen it before.

“We were thinking, all of us, that maybe tonight we could all go out together,” he said, his exotic blue eyes big and innocent and his lower-lip jutting out just slightly, “We think we deserve a chance to have some fun, and we could all do with a break and some change in scenery…” he added on as a further little plea. Randy immediately looked sceptical and Ted wondered exactly _what_ his reservations were. Considering only two of the clan (Cody included) were seemingly _most_ inclined to be an issue surely things would be quite calm considering the elder vampires would all be there to watch. _But then,_ said a snide voice in his mind that sounded like Layla, _what would you know?_

Shaking the thought away hastily Ted watched as Cody approached Randy, draping his arms around the elder vampire’s neck, “Please-“he tried again and Randy merely turned his head away. Ted felt something inside of him rebel the action before him, even though he knew that Cody hadn’t been unfaithful to him even in their time apart, and also that Randy also had someone there so he was not inclined to try and push things further… It made him feel slightly better to see John’s expression become just the slightest bit pinched even though he said nothing. However, it soon became clear to Ted just _what_ his lover was doing.

He was attempting to _annoy_ the older vampire into submission. Now, Ted loved every single thing about Cody but even the blonde would concede that on occasion Cody had little habits that sometimes got a bit _much,_ to put it nicely. One of those habits happened to be the somewhat childish tactic of asking you the same question over and over again until you changed your answer to the one that he wanted. Most of the time that was done in jest though, like this time, very rarely would he do it for anything serious. And, like it had worked on Ted in the past, it seemed that it had the special power of persuasion on Randy as well when the older vampire finally caved.

“Alright, fine!” he then pushed Cody (a push that would have sent the younger man probably _through_ the wall a little had he been human, but that only in reality had Cody falling back a few steps to Ted’s side) before glancing to John. “Looks like we’re going out then,” he said. John shrugged and smiled, dimples appearing, “Well, why not? It’s not like we can’t afford out combined bar-tabs anymore,” he joked and Randy and Cody laughed, Ted once again feeling a little left out. He was learning so much about the people that were now, technically, like a family to him and yet at the same time there was still so much he _didn’t_ know.

“You _are_ going to get changed though, right?” Cody asked, giving both men an arched-brow look as he indicated their t-shirt and jeans ensemble. Ted pulled Cody back (though, sadly, he was aware that Cody allowing him to pull him was all that could move him) to avoid the pillow that was thrown at them. “We’ll be down in a minute!” John called just as the bedroom door closed behind them both. “Well,” Ted said absently as he stared at the closed bedroom door, still somewhat bemused, “That went well.” Cody then reached, lifting Ted’s wrist up so that he could pull the shirt-cuff back to see the watch, “And with three minutes to spare.”

~::~

The club was one that neither Ted nor Cody had actually been in before, but that the vampire clan often frequented; Randy knew the owner, a deceptively twee and young looking vampire by the name of Josh Matthews, and so they could expect a private booth and not to be hassled there. It was something that happened, certainly, and they could do without the chance of an accidental slip leading to one of them accidentally caving some human’s face in with a punch defending themselves or one of the others in a brawl. “Nice place,” Ted called over the thumping of music on their way to the bar. It was loud, but even Ted knew that it was quieter than normal level.

It occurred to him then than that was probably because of the vampires having advanced hearing. “Yeah, it’s nice,” Cody agreed, his hand secure around Ted’s but not too tight; the place was busy and he didn’t want to risk the chance of losing Ted in the crowd. Josh was very careful about which people (or vamps) were let into his place and as soon as there was trouble it was dealt with by the security vampires standing outside. It was odd to Ted how genuinely difficult it was to know who was a vampire and who wasn’t… it wasn’t as though they kept their fangs out all the time as some sort of giveaway tip to clueless mortals like himself.

When they reached the bar Randy said something to the pixie-like serving-girl (who Ted _swore_ couldn’t have been old enough to be drinking alcohol, let alone working in a bar) who vanished out of sight momentarily and came back a few minutes later with a smartly dressed young man wearing glasses. He looked as though he belonged in some corporate office somewhere and not the chic club. “Randy!” Josh beamed and shook Randy’s hand firmly, engaging in a swift but firm hug with the other man, “Long time no see—“he cocked his head and grinned, “Two years in fact. How’s things?” he asked and Randy gave an enigmatic shrug, “Well, it’s not been dull.”

Chuckling somewhat Josh motioned for the group to follow, signalling to the girl behind the bar before leading them up some stairs. “It’s the VIP area,” Evan explained excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet almost as they trooped upstairs, “We can have drinks and stuff up here, have some privacy, and then go downstairs for a dance and to mingle.” Ted blinked slightly as a sudden flash of low, level light from the VIP area then highlighted something about Evan and his Cody, in fact, that he had noticed when they first got there, but that he hadn’t been able to put his finger on: Evan’s pupils were blown, but note quite in a recent-feeding or drug-induced way.

“It’s not a bad reaction, don’t worry,” said a voice directly into his ear and Ted almost tripped over the last step leading towards the level VIP area. “Huh?” he asked, probably quite unintelligently, but in his defence he had just been incredibly startled. Chris gave him a look that seemed equal parts amusement and apology, seemingly completely at ease in their surroundings, “It’s only more noticeable in the younger ones,” he explained, “It’s the sheer amount of _human_ confined into such a small space. The alcohol has nothing to do with it when ingested directly, but if it’s in the blood of someone they drink from then they can get a bit…” Ted nodded in understanding.

By this point they were all settled quite comfortably over the largest booth in the VIP area and Josh was waiting obviously to pass on their first drinks list to the bar-staff downstairs. When it came around to his turn to choose Ted faltered slightly; he’d never been a fancy drinker, not like Cody who liked his cocktails, and suddenly he wondered if they’d find him ridiculously low-brow if he just asked for a beer. “Um, a beer please,” he said and Josh grinned, nodding. Ted wondered how he was remembering 10 drinks orders without writing them down. The man had to have a pretty fantastic memory that was all he could say about it.

When Josh headed off to sort out their drinks for them the group remained settled quite comfortably on their balcony placement, watching the gyrating mass of humanity below, the people looking oddly grotesque on occasion because of the way the multi-coloured, flickering lights hit them. Ted had never been a big fan of club lighting and he could only imagine how it must seem to vampires. When he felt arms go around his middle, pulling him from his thoughts quite abruptly, he turned his head towards Cody with a gentle smile, arm wrapping around Cody’s shoulders as he dropped a kiss to his temple in response to the unspoken query from his fiancé.

There was a sound that was suspiciously like a snort across from them and Ted arched a brow as he watched Shawn elbow Hunter in the side, making the man double-over a little and pout. Shawn merely sent them a sweet smile in response and Ted shook his head in amusement before leaning back against Cody. Surprisingly quickly their drinks arrived, “On the house this round,” Josh said, the curly-haired, underage looking brunette smiled, setting down her tray as her blonde/black haired companion set her own tray down. Ted was pleased, though undeniably surprised, when the two women barely seemed to bat an eyelash at the handsome group of men around him.

“Lesbians,” Adam confided from where he had ended up on the other side of Ted as they were sat down on the huge, corner-bent couch, “Definitely something you never get tired of—ow!” he yelped, Christian _accidentally_ cuffing his mate upside the head as he reclined back in his seat after taking a drink. He smiled innocently in response, “Sorry Ads, didn’t realise I was so close to you.” He winked at Ted as Adam looked away, grumbling, and Ted laughed slightly even though he was still blushing from Adam’s words. He didn’t have a problem with lesbians you understand (how could he when he was gay in his own right?) it was just… he hadn’t had much contact with it.

A few drinks later and Evan voiced that he wanted to dance. Chris seemed uncertain, but the second Evan made as though to go down to the dance-floor without him the ex-rocker was right behind his mate. Chris had little doubt that some unscrupulous character would make a move on his sweet mate the second his back was turned, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. “It’s too soon for Randy and John,” Cody murmured into Ted’s ear, Ted shivering slightly when Cody’s lips brushed against the lobe with each word, “Adam’ll get Christian up next, and then Shawn will drag Hunter down. What say we beat the crush huh?” he nuzzled Ted’s cheek, “Dance with me teddy bear?”

And how could Ted resist that? Usually he insisted he needed a good… twelve beers in him before he allowed himself to be pulled to the dance-floor, but it had been so long since he and Cody had danced together and he knew how much he’d missed the activity since it hadn’t been afforded to him anymore. Nodding to the other assembled vampires Ted allowed himself to be led down the stairs by Cody, joining the mass of dancers within a few moments. In the crowd they spotted Evan and Chris, and though this sort of music was clearly not to Chris’ taste the man was clearly holding his own keeping up with his little lover who seemed au fait with the dancing.

“I’ve still got two left feet,” Ted warned as he and Cody began to move together, Cody adapting to the music much faster than Ted did. He’d always been a bit of a country boy personally, like a little bit of rock as well, occasionally delved into dance… but dance had always been more Cody’s thing. “Don’t care,” Cody responded, pulling Ted close to him as he let his hips sway with the somehow seductive beat, “As long as it’s my feet you’re standing on with them.” Ted’s expression softened, arms going around Cody’s middle, “I wouldn’t want to crush anyone else’s toes.” Cody’s head tipped back and he laughed, arms curling around Ted’s neck.

Watching the dancing of their clan brothers, Adam then turned his head towards the ones who remained alongside himself up on the balcony, “$20 says those two fuck tonight.” Christian rolled his eyes slightly, “Adam!” he admonished and Adam sent him an innocent look before returning his attention to the others, “Who’s in?” Hunter paused and then nodded, but he claimed it’d be a few more weeks yet. Christian was even coaxed in after Shawn had placed his bet, and then that left Randy and John. The mates exchanged a glance; the mood could definitely be right for them but Cody was still too scared of accidentally harming his fiancé.

“I’m not betting, thanks,” John said, shaking his head. In general he found betting just a tiny bit bad taste, though he knew the bets that were made in-house were never for any sort of harm or true gain; they all pretty much shared every penny that came into the manor’s finances anyway, no matters whose name it was technically under. Randy paused a moment before then saying, “Nah, I’ll sit this one out too.” Adam stuck his tongue out at them and claimed they were boring, but Randy was already watching his two youngest children once more, John’s strong fingers pleasantly massaging the back of his neck in the way that he very much enjoyed.


	17. Completely The Same, And Yet Different Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unwelcome attention towards his fiance pushes Cody close to the edge he'd been trying so hard to refrain from, and Ted is right there to jump over with him.

Completely oblivious to the betting going on overhead, Ted and Cody continued to dance together. Ted usually hated dancing, not liking the feeling that he wasn’t very good at it and people would be taking the piss, conversely he had always loved watching _Cody_ , who always seemed very natural. It usually took some chancer trying to dance with Cody to pull him to the dance floor rather than just watch his lover, but that night he didn’t feel any of the usual self-consciousness. He had gone a long way past giving a shit about what anyone else thought.

He had to excuse himself in the end though; one thing that Cody never seemed to do was use the bathroom and Ted had never questioned him about it, but he wasn’t that lucky and a cold beer would go right through him every single time. Make it three or four and Cody would start complaining that Ted spent the last half of the night in the bathroom.

Cody stroked the side of his face and planted a kiss on his lips, grinning as he started to dance on his own while Ted headed for the other side of the room. For a moment he had been worried that there simply wouldn’t be anywhere to pee, since it seemed that vampires didn’t have the need, but he needn’t have worried, humans were well catered for as well. The bathroom was far quieter than he was used to at that time of the night though and he found it a little refreshing – no puke in the urinals, no fights over the stalls, no piss over the floor. It seemed like Josh knew how to invite the right people into the place. Ted wasn’t at all sure why a vampire would choose to run a club but on the other hand, it made some sense. Josh hadn’t had that same aged feel that Ted was starting to recognise, so he probably hadn’t got a ton of money stashed away. And it would attract like species to it, get Josh in the middle of the action and gossip. The more Ted considered it, the better of an idea it appeared to be. He just had to hope that Layla didn’t know about this place and wouldn’t hang out there – although she’d seemed a little disoriented the last time he’d seen her and he wondered just how much of that was down to a little talk with Randy. He’d heard about the ways the vampires could twist the minds of humans.

Zipping himself up, Ted headed out of the bathroom and almost immediately found himself being crowded by – someone. A man, but there was no way of telling whether or not he was _actually_ a man or if he was secretly a vampire. Ted tried to duck out of the way only to find him in the way again. Ah. Probably not a man, given how fast he’d moved.  
  
“Excuse me,” he said politely. Truth be told, he wasn’t especially worried. He probably should have been, but he really didn’t think he was in any kind of trouble that couldn’t be gotten out of.

“Watched you dancing with the twink,” said the vampire, dropping Ted a wink. “Let me give you some advice. If you’re looking to be fed off, then you’d want someone with a _little_ more experience. That kid’ll rip your neck to bits, it won’t be any fun for you. Me, I’ve been around ninety years and I can make damned sure you’ll have the time of your life—“

“Uh, actually, that’s my fiancé.” Ted gave a little smile, the one that had warded off anyone interested back when he and Cody had been to these places without the vampire complication.

“Your _what_?”

“Fiancé,” said Cody from behind the man, Ted moving slightly so he could see his lover’s extremely displeased expression. “ _Mine._ So back off.”

There was a stare down and Ted started to consider panic – if the guy was telling the truth and what he’d observed about vampires getting stronger as they aged was true then there could be real trouble – but then the vampire smiled. “Fair enough. Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Cody, who had apparently been expecting a fight, blinked a couple of times. He clearly wasn’t ready to smile, snarl would be more like it since his territorial instincts had been raised, but Ted merely went over to Cody and tried to usher him off. It was a little different, him trying to be the peacemaker – in the past, it had been _Cody_ who attracted all the attention and Ted who could get a little resentful of it sometimes.

The vampire scented the air a little. “Hey, you’re one of Orton’s?”

Cody looked like he might not answer, then nodded reluctantly. The vampire smirked. “Yeah, he can pick ‘em. Who’s the guy he’s bonded with? We can all tell.”

“I’m not sure he’d like us gossiping,” said Ted pleasantly, leading Cody away. Internally he was a little torn – it wasn’t like Cody not to be able to be even a little diplomatic but he was just about spitting at this guy. He bristled with possessiveness and Ted was worried that he might get into something. “I’ll tell Randy you asked after him,” he added over his shoulder, leading Cody back to the dance floor.

“Codes, he wasn’t being aggressive or anything, he was just being a dick.” He smiled, stroking Cody’s face and hoping the incident would soon be forgotten – nothing had happened after all. “Trying his luck. He didn’t realise I’m yours.”

Cody’s gaze went to the spot on Ted’s neck where he had already fed from. There was nothing but a dark smudge there now, even that being a sign that Cody wasn’t experienced in taking blood from another, the older vampires didn’t bruise as he had. All of his possessive instincts were in play. He had to mark Ted, make sure that no one else could ever even consider approaching him… only this was not the place or the time. And to do so he would have to push further than he had intended.

But the animal had come alive, demanding and greedy…

With an effort he pushed those thoughts away, wrapping his arms around Ted’s waist and giving him a sly smile. “I guess anyone would want you after seeing you dancing tonight.”

“One of those reality shows for hopeless cases maybe,” returned Ted, but he seemed to have calmed down a little and Cody resumed dancing with his lover. Only something had changed. From lighthearted and mildly sexual fun, they seemed to have gone all the way to partial seduction without even thinking about it. Cody found that when he wasn’t looking into Ted’s eyes he was focused on his neck, his wandering hands feeling the blood rushing through Ted’s body beneath the skin, his ears alert only for the sound of Ted’s heartbeat, and his voice.

“Cody.” Ted pressed himself against Cody and spoke directly into his ear, as if Cody needed help to hear him. The music was still pounding but slightly slower and dirtier, there were enough couples doing the same thing that they didn’t look out of place. “Is everything okay?”

“Baby…” Cody leaned his head on Ted’s shoulder, which turned out to be a tactical mistake as he could feel the blood from his veins. “You have no idea how bad I want you right now.”

“So?” Ted continued to murmur his words into Cody’s ear. “You want me? _Take me.”_

Cody moaned out loud at the words, grabbing on to the ragged edges of his control. “I can’t. Can’t risk it—“

“Cody.” Ted moved his head to kiss the corner of Cody’s mouth. “I trust you. I know you don’t even trust yourself right now but _I trust you_. You won’t hurt me, it’ll all work out just fine. It’s only us Codes. Same as it’s always been. I’ve been waiting for you to be ready but you have to have a little faith too.”

“Teddy—“

“I’m not afraid of you. I never could be.” Ted rested both hands in Cody’s hair. “I trust you – and it’ll be okay.”

Cody drew back a little, having forgotten all about the music, the others around them. Ted was honestly asking him for this and he since when had he been able to refuse Ted _anything?_ And he hadn’t lied about wanting Ted, had never stopped wanting him.

“You wanna go home?”

“Let’s get outta here,” replied Ted with a wicked little grin that Cody didn’t see as often as he’d like. It occurred to him as they made their way to the door that the two of them had _never_ seen the end of a night in a club. Something about the atmosphere and the excuse to let their hair down seemed to send them home in the mood and he wasn’t sure why he had expected that night to be any different. Then again he mused as he watched Ted step forward to hail a cab, it could have something to do with the jeans he always managed to coax Ted into wearing. Or that he was well aware of what Ted hid _under_ the jeans. His mind went back to watching Ted dress, the broad back and strong shoulders and incredible pecs and muscled six-pack…

He became aware that his fangs were already trying to make themselves known and he forced them back in mild dismay. He wasn’t going to allow that. He was going to be so very careful that Ted wouldn’t be reminded of how strong he was now. How very easy it would be for him to lose control of himself.

The cab ride took way too long in Cody’s humble opinion and he barely spared a thought for the rest of the clan, left behind at the club. He didn’t think they would worry about him, Randy would know very well that he was safe and there was no need to search him out and anyway, they would probably guess what the reason for the sudden unannounced exit was. Who could think of anything else when Ted had a hand on his thigh and was murmuring in his ear? It occurred fleetingly to Cody that it was unlike Ted to be so demonstrative with an audience, the cab driver in this case, and maybe the reason behind that was that he was concerned Cody would talk himself out of it. There wasn’t a lot of chance of that. Cody was already hard, stomach fluttering in anticipation. The memories of their years spent together, the nights tangled together in bed, the evenings disrobing each other on the couch, the mornings cleaning one another’s bodies as they showered… those memories were never far from his mind and Ted’s voice was reminding him of only a few of them.

The cab driver might not have been overly impressed but Cody barely noticed him except to hand over a few notes and wave away any chance of getting change back before grabbing Ted by the hand and almost breaking the buttons on the keypad in his hurry to work the lock for the gates. He pulled Ted inside and slammed the gates as easily as if they’d been a flimsy wooden door, not even waiting for the lights of the cab to die away before almost throwing himself in his lovers arms, kissing him with all the passion he had wanted to since – well, since Ted had agreed to come back to the manor with him. A voice in Cody’s head told him that he was being too rough, holding Ted too tightly, but Ted didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to be savouring it.

“Baby—“ Cody had to break the kiss to speak but he couldn’t bear to be too far from his lover, their lips brushing as he spoke. “If you’re having second thoughts—“

“I’m not,” Ted cut in before he could get any further. “I’m not scared of you Cody.”

 _That might be a mistake_ Cody thought, but he was too invested to care much. He couldn’t have argued either way because Ted was kissing him once more, tongue brushing against his fangs and not seeming to mind they were there. Not seeming at all scared. Cody growled, hands sliding down to Ted’s ass and pressing their bodies still closer. He was tempted to tear off Ted’s clothes as he knew he could, shred his own and push Ted against the high wall, take him right there while he buried his face in his lovers neck and _bit_ , sucking, drinking, screwing Ted while he fucking _bathed_ in his blood…

He dragged his thoughts away, damned glad that Ted couldn’t read his mind. And Ted didn’t seem to have realised where his thoughts were heading. Instead Ted pulled away a little, smiling, completely unaware of Cody’s imaginings. “Maybe we should take this inside, unless you wanna get caught out by the others coming back.”

That was the last thing that Cody wanted. Without even thinking about it he lifted Ted and _moved_ , faster than his human lover could comprehend, into the manor and to their room. It was only as he kicked the door closed behind him that he realised he might have made a mistake, that Ted might not have taken too well to moving so fast. But Ted didn’t seem about to freak out, although his eyes were wide and he kept looking around as if not quite believing where he was.

“Whoa,” he murmured, Cody allowed him to find his feet again. “That was some rush.”

“Next time we go out, that’s how we’ll travel then.” Cody was a little uncertain after his little display but Ted didn’t hesitate for a moment, moving over to Cody and starting to unbutton the shirt he wore. To Cody it seemed almost painstakingly slow but probably Ted had intended it that way, knowing that Cody was still not at all sure that this was the best thing he could be doing for his fiancé, not at all. And he had always known how to tease. Cody had never known it until his hearing had sensitised, but when his torso was exposed Ted’s heartbeat increased, his breathing catching. It was a major ego boost and those had always made Cody even more willing than he might previously have been.

“Baby…” Ted’s voice was almost a sigh as he caressed Cody’s chest, lips going to his neck and kissing. Cody tilted his head back, suddenly hoping that Ted would use his teeth. Ted had frequently been known to bite down in the throes of passion and Cody had always loved it, but this sudden _need_ for him to do it was something new. Ted nipped lightly at his throat and hesitated, teeth grazing lightly over his skin and Cody shivered, wishing that Ted would break the skin and _drink_ …

But of course he couldn’t. And Ted seemed to have decided that the neck might not be the best idea, his lip trailing down toward Cody’s pecs. Damn, Ted always _did_ have a talented mouth.

Cody took hold of Ted’s shirt and somehow refrained from tearing it clear off him, wanting to be as _human_ as possible. One thought had come to his mind and was helping him to temper his own wants; he _needed_ things to work between them. He needed Ted to stay with him and he needed them to be just as close as when he had been alive, or else why had he been trying so hard for the last two years to get back to him? Because he still loved Ted, more so now than ever and he needed to prove it to him.

He removed Ted’s clothes with almost reverential care, the pair of them moving back to the bed as he did so. By the time he had Ted completely naked the man was lying on the bed, eyes fixed on Cody and alive with need. Cody could hear the way his heart thrummed with anticipation but for a moment all he wanted to do was look. He had barely dared do more than steal glances before, watching every exposure of skin with a yearning and greed while knowing he would do nothing more than look. This was different and he wanted a moment to simply bask in the physical perfection that his lover was. Sure Teddy had lost a little weight but he was still incredible and Cody had never seen anything more welcome in his life.

“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly, not the first time he had said those words in the same circumstances but meaning them just as much as he always had done. Ted’s eyes darkened slightly, sending Cody that smile that managed to be wanton and oddly sweet at the same time and had always made Cody want to take Ted in his arms and make love to him all night long. Kneeling astride Ted, he leaned down to kiss Ted’s stomach, remembering how he used to nip at Ted’s hips, creating small bruises on the love handles that were the bane of his lovers life. This time he simply didn’t dare. Instead he moved further south, lips brushing the head of Ted’s cock and hearing the man’s moan and the excited lurch of his heart. Cody had managed to kick off his shoes and Ted had already made short work of his shirt but he still had his jeans on and he wasn’t sure if he was glad or not. His erection pressing against the fabric was frustrating verging on painful but the flimsy barrier did at least remind him that he couldn’t simply take Ted right then. When he had been alive there had been times like that but it had been far too long and he didn’t want to harm Ted in any way at all.

“In the drawer baby,” he murmured, not having to elaborate because Ted immediately knew what he was talking about and made a blind, hurried grope to open the drawer beside the bed. Cody put his tongue to work in the meantime, teasing over the head and underside of Ted’s cock, catching the traces of fluid that were already making themselves known, feeling the thrum of blood causing his lover to swell. He was so focused on his task that he paid no mind to Ted’s fumblings until he heard the familiar snap of the lid being removed. He licked a wet stripe from the base to the tip of Ted’s erection, smiling to himself as he heard the almost desperate moan the man gave and then reached up to retrieve the lube.

He didn’t use it right away though, using a hand to part Ted’s legs gently and then delving further down to run his tongue around the puckered hole of Ted’s entrance. This time Ted’s moan was louder, his hips moving so that Cody could have easier access to him, but Cody had always liked keeping Ted on edge and spent a few moments running the flat of his tongue over the area before letting the tip delve within.

“Cody—“ Ted was breathless, hands reaching over his head to grab at anything he could find to ground himself and Cody smiled internally as he remembered this, how Ted would react to being rimmed. For such a good boy, he had always enjoyed something that so many considered dirty or taboo. Cody toyed with Ted, tongue probing him until Ted’s entrance was coated with his saliva. Once upon a time he would have called it lubricant enough and given in to his own need to possess his lover but this time the gap between times had been a lot more than forty-eight hours. Instead he coated his fingers with the lube Ted had found for him, warming the liquid slightly on his hand before removing his tongue and immediately replacing it with a finger, sliding gently inside of Ted and probing him lightly. Ted’s hips bucked at the new sensation, legs parting still further and Cody’s name falling from his lips amidst pleas and praises.

Cody nestled his head against Ted’s thigh a moment, the vein there tempting him. It would be so _good_ for him if he could penetrate that thigh with his fangs and drink _just a little_ from the man. Barely anything, Ted would feel perhaps a sting and he certainly hadn’t shown any sign that he’d be adverse to such attention. But again, Cody didn’t dare and his desire for Ted’s blood seemed to have been tamped down somewhat by his need for Ted’s body.

His second finger slipped inside Ted and stretched him further, kissing Ted’s thigh and then taking his cock completely into his throat, alternating between teasing him and all but devouring him, savouring the salty taste of Ted on his tongue.

“I love you Cody—“ Ted’s voice was thickening as his arousal grew, the southern in his accent becoming more pronounced. “Oh baby, I need you, _now_ —“

Cody had no intention of giving in to Ted’s demands right away, there was still the little matter of preparing his lover properly and in truth he had not been entirely prepared for how _needy_ Ted would be for him. But he understood it, of course he did – he had spent too many solitary nights with nothing but his own right hand, dreaming of Ted and feeling hollow and unsatisfied and still needy even in the throes of self-induced orgasm. He knew that no one had been taking care of Ted’s needs and given how his lover was having trouble holding himself back already he was starting to wonder just whether Ted had taken care of his needs himself. There was no way he _couldn’t_ have done but there was a damned good chance it had become a rare thing, when ones last sight of their lover was the sight of their dead body, bruised and torn, then it became a rather intrusive image on the libido.

He slipped a third finger inside Ted, feeling his inner muscles stretching to accommodate the intrusion and Ted continue to moan, barely coherent declarations of love and desire falling from his lips. Ted’s hands went to Cody’s head as if to keep him in place, not forcing the pace in any way but caressing him, hips bearing down on Cody’s hand as slippery fingers probed him deeper. Cody growled, suddenly wishing that he’d shed the jeans before he started, that he could take Ted’s nipples into his mouth and suck without his treacherous fangs taking it as an invitation to feed. Wishing that they hadn’t had to be apart for the last two years.

Some things were never forgotten though and he pulled his mouth from Ted’s cock and then seeking out that spot within his lover. Ted’s disappointed murmur turned into a loud cry of pleasure in an instant, his entire body convulsing at the sensation. Wickedly, Cody pressed against it again – the sounds that Ted made at times like this were incredible – and was rewarded with another cry, Ted’s cock throbbing in a way that told Cody his lover wasn’t going to last if he kept on like this. And although he didn’t intend this to be their last time, he needed to be inside Ted just as soon as he could. It had been a long, lonely time for him as well.

He removed his fingers, listening to Ted’s panting breaths as he knelt up and removed his jeans at human speed, standing up a moment to discard them before getting back to the bed and moving over his lover, slowly and deliberately. There was a light of need in Ted’s eyes that he remembered all too well, the one he had always envisioned when it was just himself trying to recreate the way Ted had made him feel. It was Ted who leaned up to crash their lips together, his hand on the back of Cody’s head. Cody moaned quietly, his hand running over Ted’s side until he reached his ass, coaxing Ted’s leg over his waist as he positioned himself at his lover’s entrance. They broke the kiss and Cody met Ted’s eyes, waiting to see if there was any hesitation there. He saw none and pressed himself forward, breaching Ted with no resistance at all, forcing himself to be as slow as he was able but not stopping until he was entirely sheathed in Ted’s body.

Ted let out a moan that might have been slightly pained but more of that was pleasure, satisfaction. Cody growled, feeling how tight Ted gripped him, how hot he was, hearing the way his heart raced and smelling the arousal through the faint traces of deodorant and cologne. It was a long moment before he realised that the hand he still had on Ted’s ass was digging into the man’s flesh with bruising force, nails tearing through skin.

Cody immediately took his hand from ted and put it on the bed, the sheets tearing beneath him. Ted had made no complaint though, was looking at Cody through lust-glazed eyes, lips parted slightly. To Cody it was the most arousing sight he had ever seen and just when he thought he might be able to get himself under control, Ted had enough of patience and pressed himself back on Cody to take him even deeper within himself.

Gripping the torn sheets tighter, Cody pulled almost totally from Ted and then slammed himself forward again, eliciting an almost startled and definitely pleased cry from the man. Cody set the pace fast, knowing that he couldn’t hold himself back for long. Every sense he had was overwhelmed with _Ted_ , his hunger to feed entirely forgotten in his need to experience everything that Ted had to give.

“Cody, _please…”_

“Oh fuck _Teddy—“_

Cody wanted to run his hands over Ted’s body, caress it, to kiss his chest, pin his wrists to the bed with one hand so he could wrap the other around his cock – but he didn’t dare do any of those things. He was in no real control of himself at all and wouldn’t be able to be gentle, he could crush his wrists or tear his skin further. Instead he kept his hands on the bed, revelling in the feel of Ted’s legs wrapping around his waist, his hands digging into Cody’s back, urging him to keep going. They moved together with a synchronisation that Cody had never thought would be possible now he had been changed, the pace fast and hard and completely desperate, moans combining and rising in volume, Cody slamming into Ted’s prostate with every move.

It was Ted who fell over the edge first, giving a loud, abandoned cry as his back arched up, his grip on Cody tightening. Cody was suddenly overwhelmed by sensation, the sound of Ted’s heart suddenly going faster than he had ever heard it, the scent of his release, the feeling of being gripped while Ted’s muscles convulsed around him – it was all just too much and he let out a yell of his own, slamming into Ted erratically as he filled him with his seed. Every sense engulfed by Ted, it was a moment of pure blissful happiness that he never wanted to end.

He slowed gradually, managing to loosen his grip on the ruined sheets and focus on his lover. Ted was panting, glistening with sweat, eyes closed and a smile on his face. As Cody watched, Ted’s eyes opened and he reached up to pull Cody in for a kiss that Cody gladly gave. With the immediate urgency sated he felt as if he could control himself again, although his fangs were still present and were showing no signs of retracting any time soon. Cody didn’t mind. Ted didn’t seem to object and he knew that he wasn’t about to bite into his lover in the throes of passion now.

Ted had been right. He could be trusted and things between them had been as good as they always were. Cody felt a surge of ridiculous happiness come over him and he let out a short, involuntary laugh that had Ted raising his eyebrows.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing baby.” Cody sobered slightly. “Two years.”

“Too long.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too baby.” Ted stroked his hand over Cody’s face and Cody reached up to catch it, kissing Ted’s wrist before letting him go and pulling out of his lover. A fleeting frown crossed Ted’s face and Cody immediately pulled him into his arms, soothing him with gentle kisses and finally, _finally_ able to allow himself the luxury of touching Ted as he had wanted to for so long. That one frenzied incident after he fed notwithstanding, he hadn’t been able to explore Ted’s body as he had wanted for fear of arousing his own lusts. But sated and content, he thought he could trust himself now.

Ted murmured a little as Cody’s hands travelled his body, starting with the scratches over his ass. There were bruises too and Cody felt a rush of guilt that Ted somehow seemed to pick up on, meeting Cody’s eyes and giving him a stern look. “Don’t act like you haven’t done more in the heat of the moment.”

Cody wasn’t at all sure that he had done anything in the past to match that, but Ted was right in that he _had_ enjoyed leaving his marks on Ted and this was hardly noticeable or life-threatening. He would forgive himself, this time. Although…

“Roll over and let me see properly babe.”

Ted rolled his eyes and then shifted so his back was to Cody, shaking his ass as much as he was able. Cody chuckled, deciding he could live with it and then pressed himself against Ted’s back. He had no intention of sleeping, but oddly he had not been able to lie like this with Ted properly since they had been back together. He would have a minute or two and then he would be asleep, waking to find that Ted had been out of the bed since and their positions were different. His hand roamed over Ted’s chest, finding his nipple and rubbing a thumb slowly over it. Ted gave a contented noise, wriggling his ass against Cody’s cock. Cody supposed he should have been surprised when he found his cock making a slight twitch at the action, it had been less than five minutes, but he really wasn’t. He was pretty sure that before the night was out, there would be at least one more go-around. That thought made him smile, pressing his face into the back of Ted’s neck and inhaling his scent as he continued to stroke his hand over Ted’s body.

Ted was warm, so incredibly alive and Cody pressed a kiss against his neck, in the same place where his mark still was. Then another. And then without even thinking consciously about it, his fangs slid easily into the skin of Ted’s neck.

Sighing contentedly, Ted tilted his neck to allow Cody easier access, his body pressing more firmly against Cody’s. There was nothing frenzied about the moment, to Cody it felt just as natural as post-coital embrace. Ted’s blood filled his mouth, tasting even better than he had remembered and he gave a rapturous growl in the back of his throat. This was just…

…Not what he had intended at all.

Suddenly realising just what he was doing, Cody quickly stopped himself and lapped his tongue over Ted’s wound, sealing it, rather shaken. He hadn’t even been thinking about feeding, so what the hell had happened there? It had seemed so _right_ , something that was just another part of their relationship, something that affirmed their closeness. But he had already fed from the unsatisfying blood packet earlier that night and should have had no need. It was troubling to say the least… but Ted was almost purring and he had no desire to wreck their night together with worry. He pushed the questions to the back of his mind and kissed Ted’s neck again, reminding himself that neither he nor Ted could afford for him to slip up like that too often.

He retained his sense of well-being in spite of his worries though, more so since drinking even that small amount of Ted’s blood.

~:~

At some point Ted supposed he must have nodded off, because when he found himself gaining awareness once more it was to the sensation of Cody pressing into him once again, slowly and with care but without pause. “Oh _god_ ,” Ted moaned, his hips lifting instinctively before his mind had even truly caught up with what was happening to him. Cody’s lips brushed against his cheek, the warmer-than-usual hands his lover possessed spanning over his sides gently, fingers dancing teasingly over his nipples now and again, raising them into taunt peaks once more. “M’sorry Teddy,” Cody murmured, “But I can’t wait anymore.” Watching Ted slumber –and especially the perfectly dirty point of notice where he could see his cum beginning to ooze out of Ted’s entrance- had roused Cody’s urges all over again. This time though, this time he’d be gentler.

Though his need for Ted had never really died down this time around he knew he could be much less fraught--- he’d still probably keep his hands on the bed as opposed to Ted though, because even though he felt more at ease and aware of himself he still couldn’t risk the chance of a moment’s lapse; Christian had once told him a terrifying tale of a woman vampire who had broken a human one-night-stand’s back because she had let her guard down and tightened her legs around him too much. The man’s family and friends decided best to ‘put the man down’ afterwards and the woman fled--- this was a very long time ago mind.

But that story, and the knowledge that he had watched himself cave in part of a solid brick wall with one punch without much concentrated effort, as an example, was more than enough to make Cody think twice about every action involving Ted. The small nail marks had inspired enough guilt in him even if Ted hadn’t minded, had insisted verbally that he didn’t mind. When his thighs pressed completely against Ted’s ass Cody couldn’t help the low growl in his throat of pleasure; how had he managed to go two years without this? How had he managed to hold off for so long since Ted had been there with him again? _He had no idea._

“Y’OK baby?” Cody murmured into Ted’s ear, his hands moving to rest beside where Ted’s own were curled into the sheets. He knew that although his cum and their previous sex would provide Ted with some form of preparation he was aware he might have jumped the gun a little; when they had ‘surprised’ one another like this in the past it had been when their sex-life was much more regular and there was therefore less chance of causing the other harm or discomfort. He needn’t have worried though; the sensation was absolutely blissful, so much so that it was almost, almost painful. “ _Cody—“_ and _fuck_ if that accent still didn’t get at him.

“You’re OK?” Cody asked, fingers squeezing in the sheets as he eased out of Ted and then thrust back in, letting his hips roll with a slow deliberation, making no attempt to seek out Ted’s prostate immediately the way that he had before. Despite the fact that he had fucked Ted not half an hour before (that was how long the blonde had been out in contented slumber since Cody had fed from him incidentally) the other still felt so shockingly _tight_ around him, as though he was going to fairly _break_ Cody with the force in which he squeezed him. “More than OK,” Ted panted, face pressing into the pillow he’d previously been lying on.

Purring in his throat Cody dared brush a kiss over the back of Ted’s neck before moving his lips down to the backs of Ted’s shoulders. Despite the fact he had already had the spontaneous feeding from his lover the urge to taste from him again was almost overwhelming--- and he had absolutely no idea _why_ he was suddenly feeling so greedy. When Cody’s tongue traced up the line of his spine as much as he could manage in their position without ruining his rhythm Ted found himself fairly mewling, though the sounds weren’t quite as wanton as those he had gave when Cody had rimmed him… he shivered as the thought.

A small hiss left Cody as Ted tightened around him out of nowhere, his fangs growing in his mouth once more and causing him a moment of extreme frustration; at least the others did have to be embarrassed or concerned if their fangs came out, any marks that they gave each other would probably heal within the hour, especially if they had fed off of one another any time during the activities that caused the marks. Ted however seemed completely unaware of Cody’s frustration, attempting to push himself back on his fiancé to increase their speed, but even with the lack of Cody’s hands on his hips to keep him in place that didn’t work much.

It was one of those moments where things just seemed to click in his mind again even if he’d realised them before, and Ted felt something in him stirring in pleasure at the thought that Cody could easily break him in half, or that he could easily bite him again as they made love, and Ted wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. And the frightening thing about it was that he wasn’t sure he’d actually _want_ to make any attempt to stop Cody. Actually, the chances were he’d probably encourage him. He wasn’t clueless to the way being fed from made him feel but he knew it wasn’t the feeding itself, but the fact that Cody was the one taking such a precious commodity from him.

Suddenly, quite out of the blue, Layla’s face appeared in his mind and Ted felt a dangerously smug feeling welling inside of him as he thought about how the flouncy tart would react to the sight of Cody buried balls-deep within him, murmuring words of profound adoration and undying love to him. It would surely piss on the bonfire of all her little dreams and delusions in one fell swoop. Had he not been in such a blissed state of mind he would have been shocked at his own hostility and wish to cause the woman emotional hurt, but right then he didn’t care less about anything other than the fact that Cody was with him, was inside of him, and all was _right_.

“Cody—“Ted arched his back, shivering as he felt his cock throbbing with need. Cody’s depth and pace just _weren’t enough_ to give him what he wanted. “Baby, baby, please, please—“he fairly babbled, having no clue what he was saying and really not caring; Cody had seen him at his best and his worst and it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed about letting himself be so far gone that he was fairly pleading with his fiancé to fuck his brains out again. At first Cody ignored him and Ted all but sobbed with need, letting his guard down when it seemed that Cody wasn’t going to listen to him… but then his lover surged forward, striking his prostate with dead-on precision.

Just as Ted all but screamed his pleasure at the sudden jolt of white hot _fucking hell_ that went coursing down his spine and to his cock, the front door opened and Randy led the clan back inside. They had lingered until an hour before dawn, their usual time to be home when they were out since the youngest ones only had less than half an hour until they’d drop like a stone and it was better to be safe than sorry than let themselves be caught at the mercy of the sun. Of course Cody and Ted’s absences had been noted but no-one, as Cody had predicted, was overly concerned. A few days ago it would have been a completely different story.

“I wonder where they—“Adam suddenly stopped, cocking his head like a pointer dog as the faint strains of an ecstatic cry sounded from upstairs. It wasn’t to make out the differences in the voices, attributing them to the appropriate partner--- and also which partner was on top due to the pitch in the sounds. Each couple there would acknowledge, but never admit that they had _ever_ made such noises, that the submissive partner’s noises always reached a higher pitch than those of the dominant partner. A gleeful look crossed Adam’s face as he let out a quiet whoop, then obviously gearing up to raise his voice to a higher level to shout upstairs to them.

Christian’s hand covering his partner’s mouth meant that Adam didn’t get the chance though and he whined into the ‘doctor’s’ palm and shot him a reproachful look. “Time and place, Adam,” the other Canadian merely said with complete sincerity. Now was not the time to tease them because that moment was one of immense significance and they would never get to repeat it in exactly the same way. Even if they swapped positions, the atmosphere and the build-up would be subtly different than this time around. Adam pouted but obediently decided to hush; he’d just tease Cody for it tomorrow morning instead. Another louder, more urgent cry sounded faintly to them.

Randy couldn’t help but feel something of a paternal pride that his youngest child was giving his lover a ‘proper good seeing to’ as he had once heard an English vampire describing it at Josh’s club back when it had first opened, and he was pleased that they seemed to have overcome what was possibly _the_ hardest barrier between human/vampire couples. And, yes, that was even including the issues of feeding and sheep. John looked amused, obviously sensing Randy’s thoughts and Shawn and Hunter seemed to want to share in Adam’s want to tease their youngest clan-brother; it had been a long time coming after all and all of them had been through it before.

Evan meanwhile, had a wide-eyed look about him. It wasn’t as though he’d never actually heard (or walked in on, as the case may have been) any of his clan brothers having sex before, but this time seemed to really surprise him. It could possibly be because it was _Cody_ , the same Cody who had been completely without companionship outside of themselves for two years and who had never so much as batted an eyelash concerning sexual matters before, or maybe it was because he was caught in his own memories concerning the first time Chris had finally consented to sleeping with him--- and believe him it wasn’t for lack of effort on his part.

Chris’ hand rested on Evan’s back and the ravenette blinked, seemingly coming back to himself and levelling Chris with one of his bright, white smiles. “Shall we go up to bed?” he asked. Chris didn’t need to go to bed with him, obviously, because he could last longer than Evan, but the younger vampire knew that the elder vampire preferred to beside him both when he went to sleep and also when he awoke. At first glance Chris might not seem affectionate, and indeed in the past he may not have been, but when it came to Evan there wasn’t anything Chris wouldn’t do for him. And that included risking the other’s teasing because he was acting ‘lovey-dovey’.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Chris told the others before they headed upstairs. Even if he hadn’t been intending to go to bed with Evan anyway the small spike of his lover’s already simmering lust from the atmosphere and dancing in the club would have been enough to get his attention. Randy shook his head in amusement and watched as one by one the other four vampires drifted off to bed as it got closer to their resting time. It had long since gone quiet upstairs and Randy could only surmise from the sudden silence that the pair had _finished what they were doing_. Randy glanced to John when he heard the other chuckle softly, suddenly.

“What?” he asked, drawing closer to John and wrapping his arms around the man’s middle. They had both ended up having their own turn on the dance-floor that evening, and of course Randy had received his usual share of attention from the unmated vamps and humans alike, but that had almost been overshadowed by the amount of attention that John received--- including from the mated vamps. However, their interest was obviously concerning just who John was; their bonding was probably obvious, but John had hardly been a sociable vampire in the area even before he had gotten together with Randy and ended up spending the majority of his time with his child instead.

It had filled Randy with extreme possessive pride and possessive jealousy all at once, but his ego had been assuaged almost immediately by the way that John didn’t seem to have eyes for anyone but him. “I was just thinking,” John started, an arm draping lazily around Randy’s neck as he rested their foreheads together, “That Adam’s going to be raking in quite the bit of money isn’t he?” for a moment Randy completely blanked on what John could mean, but then he understood and he laughed lowly before shaking his head. “That is if he even remembers the bet by tomorrow… though knowing Adam he probably will,” anything to do with money was something he _always_ remembered.

The brunette laughed slightly and shook his head, glancing to Randy as he said, “Did you want to order a new bed now, or shall we get to that afterwards?” he supposed he should really be the one inputting half for it. However, if he tried to give Randy the money outright he knew he wouldn’t take it. He supposed he’d just need to go through the ‘less offensive’ channel of placing the money into the bed-fund. “Hm,” Randy paused slightly, thinking about it. “Can we get a bed with a mirror over it?” his teeth glinted as he gave John a wicked smile. Now, that idea _was_ quite appealing, but logically it would be a bit of hassle to sort that out.

“If you’re in one of _those_ moods,” John mused with a grin, “We could always pull your big vanity mirror next to the bed.” Randy elbowed his lover lightly before shaking his head and pouting--- and even on Randy the pout looked goddamn _sexy_. “Don’t call it a vanity mirror,” he chided as he pulled away from their embrace, but grabbed John’s hand and started to lead him back towards the stairs so that they could go to their own bedroom. “We’ll sort the bed out tomorrow,” he said in all seriousness, “Maybe we can get a rotating one if you’re not big on the mirror thing…” John’s ensuing laughter could be heard around the house.


	18. Just A Question Of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted meets another member of Randy's household and find himself confronting some issues with Cody that he'd been hoping to avoid

The next time Ted awoke it was mid-morning, but that wasn’t surprising in the least to him considering what time he went to bed now. Actually, he was surprised that he didn’t stay asleep longer after the thorough bouts of lovemaking his body had been through last night. He felt a tingle in his abdomen just thinking about it and bit his lip, glancing across to Cody. The other hadn’t even bothered to wash before the sun had had him crashing out a few hours earlier and as a consequence of that he was still so perfectly naked. Without really thinking Ted reached out and traced his fingers down between Cody’s pectorals, tapering at his waist where the covers lay.

Reluctantly pulling away from Cody’s unmoving form (and once again it was like a whole new shock to his system that Cody be so still after how vigorous his movements had been before) Ted padded into the bathroom; blushing violently as he felt Cody’s seed beginning to leak from his entrance. Quickening his stride Ted was soon in the bathroom and had a bath running, brushing his teeth and inspecting the freshly bruised mark on his neck as the water filled up the tub. As soon as he could he got into the water. He was in no rush to remove the evidence of what he and Cody had done… it just felt so lewd to be _sticky_ like that afterwards, especially after such a long hiatus.

It wasn’t as though he and Cody had never had unprotected sex together before (though they had always been very conscious of contraception when they had first begun seeing one another) and Ted had missed that intimate feeling of _Cody_ lingering inside of him. A blush stained the blonde’s cheeks that had nothing to do with the warmth of the water; his thoughts had led to his _interest_ becoming even more poignant than before from the _natural r_ eaction that most men experienced upon waking. Looking at his erected cock where it bobbed gently in the water when he shifted slightly he tried to think of something to quell the urge and make it go away.

Since Cody’s passing masturbating had seemed downright distasteful for him… though admittedly he’d never been exactly _completely_ at ease with the idea of self-exploration because of what his father, and the church, had always said about such things when he had been a boy. Much of his faith had been lost when Cody had been taken from him, yes, but that still hadn’t made the need to please himself any easier to accept. Even when he awoke in the middle of the night, sweating and panting and with his shaft tenting his pyjama pants after a dream/memory of his time with Cody he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He’d turned on a cold shower and stand under it until he trembled.

This time though, even with his uncertain thoughts, Ted’s hand slipped underneath the water down his own body towards his waiting cock. Wrapping his fist around it he began a slow motion, his own manhood almost feeling odd in his hand since it had been so long since he’d last attempted to do this. Ghosting his thumb over the tip sent a tingle down his spine, but it wasn’t until he imagined Cody’s mouth on his neck and his lover’s body over his own that Ted finally felt himself becoming more at ease. The gentle lap of the water against his body was soothing though it broke through his fantasy somewhat and the blonde bit his lip to stifle a moan.

It wasn’t as though he’d be able to wake Cody up if he did make noise but old habits died hard and this was a big enough step for Ted personally as it was… and it was all because they had finally broken their celibacy with one another the night before. Thoughts of Cody soon sent him over the brink, covering his hand with his seed, the water immediately beginning to lap away the evidence. Leaning back against the edge of the tub Ted took a few minutes to calm himself, suddenly feeling light-headed. The water and small amount of blood loss the night before probably led to that, he noted absently, but he wouldn’t have changed anything of the night before regardless.

Once he had recovered Ted thoroughly washed himself before getting out of the bath. He winced slightly as a small, almost forgotten pull flared in his backside--- but the sensation made him smile. How long had it been since he and Cody had done it to the degree where he could still feel the other the day after? Exiting the tub carefully Ted dried himself off and then pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt (the house was always comfortably warm, but Ted supposed money for the heating wasn’t much of a problem) before heading downstairs. Loathe though he was to part from Cody, even for a little bit, he was pretty damn hungry in all truth.

Padding downstairs through the quiet house Ted reached the kitchen in record time. He noticed the gardener standing by the sink, fetching a glass of water, and smiled to the man with only some tentativeness in the action because he was unsure how it would be received. The dark haired, slightly dark-skinned man smiled back at him with a polite warmth that was completely at odds with the way that Layla had looked at him whenever he had come across her, “Good morning,” he said as he moved across to the cupboard and got himself a glass, pulling a carton of fresh orange from the fridge. He topped himself a generous measure of it.

“Good morning, Mr Ted,” the man said with the slightest hint of an accent that Ted was mildly embarrassed that he couldn’t place; he had done quite a bit of travelling for family holidays in his youth and he had liked to think that he was quite au fait with accents and geography. His eyes widened somewhat at the address, startled almost to the point where he spilled orange on himself. “Mr Randy told me that someone new had moved into the house, Mr Cody’s partner, this if the first time I’ve seen you though—“he tilted his head to the side and smiled, “You’re definitely human aren’t you?” he asked and Ted nodded dumbly, startled into silence.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Justin smiled as he placed a finger to his lips and winked, “I know all about the people here, so you don’t need to make any excuses to me,” he indicated his glass, “I hope you don’t mind; it’s warmer out there than I anticipated and I came in for a drink.” Ted hastily shook his head, “I don’t mind at all,” he assured, “Please, help yourself to whatever you want—“it felt so wrong for him to consider telling someone else what to do when it was far from what he saw as his place. It wasn’t as though he’d been there long or anything… Justin had been working there much longer than he’d been there. It was a slightly sad thought but one he could hardly deny.

“Um,” Ted started as he moved around to the side after he’d picked out the fixings to make himself a sandwich, “Justin?” the gardener made a sound of acknowledgement as he took a drink, gaze focused on Ted. “How…” Ted blushed slightly and ducked his head a little, rubbing the back of his neck as he said, “Um, how did you know… about the others?” he asked. Justin lowered his empty glass and smiled, placing the item into the dishwasher seeming on practised reflex before sighing gently. “Randy knows my lover…” he said, tugging the collar of his shirt down to reveal a rather impressive looking bruise. However, it didn’t look like the bruise that he had from Cody.

“My lover’s a werewolf,” Justin announced with all the casual pride in the world, fixing his collar back into place. Considering what he had witnessed recently Ted had no idea why he was so shocked by this revelation, but despite himself he gaped at Justin the way a high-school virgin would if a friend of theirs had approached them and asked them to become the third part of a threesome. The smaller man laughed suddenly, startling Ted; he didn’t seem offended by it, merely as though he had been expecting something like that. “Mr Cody reacted exactly the same way when he found out as well,” he mused, “He didn’t believe me for a long time until he actually met Wade.”

“So—so that bruise?” Ted asked, probably inarticulately when he had managed to recover enough of his capabilities to speak, and Justin paused slightly, obviously trying to understand what Ted was asking. “Oh, no, he hasn’t bitten me to turn me—“and didn’t that phrase stir something in Ted, “But I don’t think it’ll be long now,” and Justin _smiled._ He seemed _so excited_ about the prospect of being turned into a creature that should be nothing more than a TV and book legend.  “This is just so that he feels reassured to let me go around alone, especially here.” When he saw the look on Ted’s face Justin said, “It’s… A talisman I guess you could say.”

“Because I have a mark on me I’m immune from any vampire making an attempt on me. Of course, no one in the house ever has--- not even Mr Evan or Mr Cody when they were first changed. But it’s more for if Mr Randy has visitors coming through to pay respects and they end up catching myself or one of the staff—“and this was especially true when daylight saving was in place as the nights came in sooner. It wouldn’t have been the first time one of them had been caught out… though most of them were often sheep so as long as they were treated right they didn’t much care who fed from them as long as they received what they wanted in return for their services.

“So… you’re still out in the daylight?” Ted asked, “Your… Wade, was it?” he asked and the gardener nodded, pulling on his heavy-duty gloves as he obviously decided he should be getting back to work, “Can he go outside too?” Ted had to admit he’d never really been a big werewolf story/film fan so he didn’t know much about their mythology. “Yeah,” Justin said, not making fun of him for asking what in retrospect would probably seem like a stupid question. “It’s only three nights of the month when things get a little… tetchy for him. It’s why we live in an estate like this with its own woodland; that way Wade can have his freedom and be worry free that he might hurt someone.”

Ted nodded slowly, his mind struggling to keep up with the new information that he had been given. He had made his sandwich on autopilot it seemed, and even though he didn’t feel as hungry as he thought he had been before he polished off the sandwich in record time. He kept away from the kitchen windows somewhat, a completely subconscious action since it had been so long since he’d had contact with the sun. The small splashes of warmth, though something he was more than willing to give up, were something he missed--- and apparently Justin seemed to notice. “Fancy coming out for a little while?” he asked, “It’s quite relaxing out in the garden.”

Undoubtedly Ted was surprised, eying Justin slightly in puzzlement as though trying to assess the man’s motives for inviting him outside with him, prolonging their interaction with each other, but then he realised that Justin was genuinely attempting to extend the hand of friendship out to him. “Yeah,” Ted smiled, placing his dish into the sink alongside his used cutlery to wash after before he put the items he’d used for his sandwich back in the fridge, “That’d be really nice,” he said in all honestly as he followed the younger man outside. At least, he assumed Justin was younger than him; he had a baby-face alright but his eyes had a deeper depth of knowledge in them.

~::~

When Cody awoke he immediately sensed that something was _different_ , and it took him several long seconds to realise that _Ted_ was what was different. The man’s aura seemed to have changed, emanating a stronger sense of contentment than ever before, but at the same time there was the scent of _sunshine_ and _earth_ on the man that sure hadn’t been there before. Rolling onto his side Cody let his eyes trail up Ted’s form, the man beside him clearly lost in the book he was reading and unawares that Cody was now awake. “Did you go outside today?” Cody found himself asking and Ted jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Babe, you scared me—“Ted laughed and Cody nuzzled his cheek against the man’s chest, hearing the sudden _dum-dum-dum-dum_ rapid rhythm of surprise before it gradually began to calm down again. “Sorry teddy-bear,” Cody murmured with genuine contriteness before then repeating, “Did you go outside today?” and obviously he meant during the day because Ted had been outside with him on a night more than once now. “Yeah, I did,” Ted said, biting his lip, “But I only went into the garden,” he hastened to assure, unsure exactly why Cody might be upset by the knowledge of him leaving the estate but heeding the instinct that told him so.

“The garden?” Cody repeated in surprise, and then his brows rose, “Have you met Justin by any chance?” he asked and when Ted nodded Cody sighed slightly and then quirked a lopsided smile, “And I’m guessing he told you about his own _special circumstances_ then?” unable to help but give a small chuckle at the way Cody phrased the question Ted then nodded, “Yeah, he did… I can’t believe werewolves are real. And, yes, I am aware that that is incredibly ironic considering the fact that you’re a vampire.” Cody nodded slowly, starting to say something but then cutting off when Ted then said, “Justin said that you wouldn’t believe him either when he first told you about his lover.”

“No,” he admitted, “I didn’t. He and Randy have known one another for a long time though apparently, and though our clans and their packs don’t always get along we generally just leave one another alone and let each get on as they want. Wade’s apparently quite high in the pack hierarchy, though neither Randy nor Justin has ever mentioned exactly _what_ it is…” he trailed off as he noticed something in Ted’s eyes, an emotion that he couldn’t name but that he knew wasn’t wholly a positive thought. “Teddy? Baby? What is it?” he asked and Ted cleared his throat slightly before shaking his head and giving a smile, “It’s nothing,” he said.

“Are we really going to go through this again?” Cody asked in amusement as he shifted so that he was laid on his front, the covers winding around his legs but slipping enough to reveal some of the swells of his buttocks (a sight that Ted’s eyes were immediately fixated upon. Hey, he was only human!) as he rested his chin on Ted’s chest. “Alright,” Ted sighed, “It’s not anything to do with me I guess I was just… surprised by Justin.” He admitted and Cody’s brow furrowed as he cocked his head, clearly not understanding immediately what Ted was getting at. “Surprised by what?” he asked, having a bad feeling about what Justin may have said.

Incredibly reliable but bubbly Justin was, he had a tendency, like Evan, to get a bit chatty when he was around people that he felt he could open up to on certain topics. “Well… He showed me his neck,” he said, instinctively touching the mark on his neck and Cody felt his animalistic side stir in pleasure at the side of the refreshed mark upon Ted’s otherwise unblemished throat. “Oh!” Cody cottoned on them somewhat, nodding his head, “He showed you his bite mark?” he asked and Ted nodded his head somewhat, “And he said… the bite wasn’t to change him, but that that would probably happen soon,” he admitted softly to Cody.

That surprised Cody somewhat; he had heard Wade and Justin had been together _a lot longer_ than most people assumed though he didn’t exactly know how long, and he figured that they had had an understanding that they would stay as they were or something… Cody didn’t quite understand werewolf mating habits so he had no idea in all honesty. “And… that had you thinking about us?” he supplied gently and Ted nodded. Not only Layla, but now Justin had mentioned mating i.e. bonding through a change, and Evan had been through it… though it was still a terrifying and complex thought a part of his mind wondered if he was being stupid to be so hesitant about such an event.

~:~

“I was just thinking of the future,” Ted admitted slowly, a hand going to Cody’s shoulders and stroking him idly. “I mean, it was so obvious back then. We were going to get married and grow old together, do some travelling, have great sex—“ He smiled at Cody’s chuckle before they both grew serious again. “And now it’s all different. We’re together, that’s the most important part and the only part that I should care about maybe. But I want to be with you _always_ Cody and that’s – I mean, we’re entirely different species these days. And how long can you expect to live? That guy ‘Taker, he was still upright and sniffing the air, occasionally at least, and some of the myths I read in that book put him as being some Norse Viking. My history’s not good at all but that’s gotta be a thousand years, easy. I’ve got another fifty or sixty perhaps. And I’m not changeless like you seem to be – I don’t know much about ‘Taker but I _have_ seen John and Randy and they’re still just like any other athletic man in their thirties. And I know they’re a couple hundred years old, John might even be more than that. They talk about going to war with bayonets and horses on boats like it’s something that happened ten years ago. Time won’t pass the same for you anymore. Me, I’m gonna get ten years down the line and start losing my hair and getting a middle age spread. Twenty and I’ll be getting breathless climbing the stairs. Thirty and anyone who sees us out together is gonna assume you’re my kid. Or grandkid.”

He hadn’t meant to spill everything out like that and closed his mouth, a little embarrassed. But he had spoken nothing but the truth; they had the moment but Cody was always going to be the same while he went through the normal human process of aging.

“You might get tired of me,” he said quietly. “When I start falling apart and become someone else, you won’t want to be around me when you’re still young after all those years. And what about when I’m an old man and I forget how you came back? What about when I _die_ Cody?”

Cody shivered, not wanting to think about _that_ at all, dropping a kiss on Ted’s still-perfect, warm skin. “Baby. That’s a long time away. You’re still adjusting to me even being here still, we don’t have to think about the long term for a long time yet. Five years, ten, whatever, we’ve got all that time to be thinking about the future, we’ve got a long time.”

“Not for you Codes,” replied Ted. “But for me, it’s a huge chunk of time. Ten years, that’s more than a tenth of my life. And the longer you live, the more ten years will seem like the blink of an eye for you.”

“Maybe,” said Cody, a touch uneasily. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to think of a future where Ted aged, got sick… died. That would make the centuries that followed an undying hell. “But that’s a long way off. We’ve got the time to work things out Teddy. It’s been weeks for us instead of years and we don’t have to be pressured into anything right now. Anything at all,” he added. He wasn’t sure if he liked the thought of Ted being changed any more than he liked the thought of him getting old without Cody going through the same thing. He _knew_ Ted and the things he liked – he liked the outdoors, fresh air, he liked his food, he liked being around people. To change him wouldn’t restrict him to the indoors but it would keep him from the sun, there would be no more illicit but oh-so-good snacks for his lover, there would be a long period where he wasn’t able to be around humans in case he was overwhelmed by them. And his family were simply out of the question. Ted’s mother would know something was different inside him, his father would spot the change in his unhappy mood right away and over time, his brothers would know that he wasn’t aging, wasn’t changing and refused to see them before dark.

“My body’s already four years older than yours,” added Ted in the voice he always used when he was determined to be pessimistic.

“And looking good for it,” said Cody sternly. “Besides, I always knew you’d be a good sugar daddy for me.”

Ted snickered. “I’m not that old, you cheeky bastard,” he retorted.

“But when you’re fifty…”

Ted gave Cody’s shoulder a half-hearted shove that would have made no difference even if Cody hadn’t been so strong. Cody chuckled, kissing Ted’s stomach again. “When you’re fifty, I’ll still be in love with you. Human or vampire that’ll make no difference. No matter how old I look, I’ll still really be the same age.”

“The same age as you were two years ago.” Ted pouted. “And I’ll sag. And have man-boobs.”

“You will not,” said Cody affectionately – although it was commonly accepted that he was the diva of the pair, Ted had his moments too. “And even if you gained five hundred pounds and your ass dragged on the floor, I’d still love you even then. You being completely gorgeous is just a bonus, it’s _you_ I love.”

“Five hundred pounds?” Ted wrinkled his nose at the thought. “Ewg. What if I went bald? And had one of those combovers to hide it?”

“I’d still love you.”

“What if all my teeth fall out and I get impotent?”

“I’ll still love you.”

“What if I turn into a carbon copy of my dad?”

“…Let’s not go nuts here.”

Ted shoved Cody again, chuckling. “We really do need to be thinking about this kinda thing y’know.”

“Yeah, but—“ Cody leaned up a little, looking Ted in the eye. “We don’t need to rush into deciding anything. Six months, a year, it’s not even too much out of your life. And think about it, that’ll give you time to really understand what it’s gonna be like staying here or even if you want to.” He dropped his eyes. “You might miss the world too much. I know that it’s gonna be a real adjustment to live here, you might even decide to go back to the apartment and visit me on weekends, or maybe one day to just – stay away. It’s not gonna be easy and you should be aware of just how easy it _isn’t_.”

“Codes—“ Ted moved his hand to rest on the side of Cody’s face. “Don’t think that I’m gonna run away. I’ve been miserable without you and I’d give up any amount of parties and social gatherings and days shopping to be here with you. I haven’t missed any of it.”

“Not even just walking outside?”

“It’s not like I can’t go into the garden and I don’t think you’d stop me if I desperately wanted to go to the town or anywhere else. I don’t know that you could.”

“I could,” replied Cody soberly. “You know I could. But that’s not the part I’m worried about. You’ve always been close to your family baby, and if you stay then how are you going to explain it to them? How you never work, how you’re living somewhere else? Why things have changed for you so much?”

Ted hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“There might come a time when you have to make a choice baby,” Cody said sadly. “Them or us. Just because there’s no way you can tell them what’s going on and there’s no way they won’t notice. I mean, I’m not talking about dropping off the radar completely but you might have to make something up and not be seen very often. Working abroad or some such shit and even then, you know they might decide to visit you wherever you aren’t.”

Ted was at a loss of something to say to reply to that. It was true that his family had been texting his phone, not that he’d answered anyone – he wanted to get used to this, some uninterrupted time with the lover he thought he’d never see again. But Cody had a good point. There was no way that they would accept some bullshit story without becoming suspicious or checking it out. A few days grace was one thing, but an extended amount of time was something else altogether.

“That’s something else in the future to think about,” said Cody. “And something we really don’t have that long to think about.”

Nodding slowly, Ted pressed his lips together. Cody was absolutely right about that being a more pressing issue. He had wanted to think about nothing but the two of them and what was happening between them, but Ted hadn’t lived in a bubble even as he mourned. He had lost some friends but not all that many and his family had been there for him throughout his grief, although they had not understood its depths. He couldn’t explain Cody away either, not when they had all been to his damned funeral. No, he was going to have to do something.

And although he hated to hurt anyone the way he knew it would, he was considering simply dropping off the face of the earth and vanishing from his old life altogether. The only life he wanted was the one with Cody.


	19. Grandpa Sports

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted gets a surprising insight into the clan after Evan asks for an unexpected favour, and Randy notices a few warning signs about Cody.

“You think we’ll see the kids tonight?” asked John idly as he browsed the internet. There were any number of furniture shops that allowed for late night shopping and if he and Randy went there and ordered their bed, then they should be fine if they asked Ted to wait for it during the day. Other times they had asked Layla or Justin but it was pretty obvious that Ted was used to earning his keep and asking for the odd favour seemed to be the way to go.

Randy shrugged slightly, lounging over the couch and flicking through the TV channels. He didn’t exactly have much patience when it came to television, if he liked something he really liked it, otherwise it was ‘shit’ and he wanted nothing to do with it. “I don’t know. Since they’re uh, reacquainting themselves, they might not wanna emerge for a couple days. I know I wouldn’t.”

“That’s you. Ted needs to eat.”

“Let ‘em call out for pizza. I won’t complain.”

“Pizza smells amazing,” said John. “I wish I could taste it. Remember when Ev used to call them in, double meat feast with extra pepperoni and cheese? And cheese _cake_ , who would have ever thought of that?”

Randy gave him an amused look. “Probably lucky you’re not human. Living these days, you’d be about three hundred pounds.”

“Hey, I have self control.” John changed the website and frowned. “You don’t sense any uh, distress do you?”

“Nope.” Randy gave up on the TV and looked over at John, glad they were alone for this conversation. “Why?”

“Hey, you were the one who was sleeping with Chris for five years before he died so you should know,” said John, without showing any outward sign of jealousy, only the slightest hint of it through their bond. “You should know how difficult it is to remember how breakable they are.”

“I never told you that! How did you know that?”

John blinked. “You must have told me that or else how would I know? Or Chris did perhaps. Or maybe it’s just obvious, I mean there had to be a reason you two hung out when he was human. And not because you’re a whore for celebrities because you’re not.” He shrugged. “I’m just hoping that everything went okay.”

“You’re a closet romantic really, aren’t you?” Randy chuckled, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I trust Cody, he’ll control himself. He’s far too much in love not to.” He rested the remote on his leg, not noticing that he’d left the channel on something he really hated. “And I think that there’s enough problems heading our way with those two, don’t you?”

John raised an eyebrow. “You mean with the feeding?”

“The feeding, the lifestyle, everything.” Randy sighed. “Just gotta hope they come through it. If it all goes wrong, it’s not gonna be pleasant ‘round here.”

John nodded. “I never knew this was something you had to worry about when you had a clan.”

“Yeah, it’s like having kids only they never move out and get a job,” joked Randy. “They’ll be okay. As long as the feeding doesn’t become an issue. I dunno, I never dealt with anyone who met their mate before they were turned. Except you.”

John flipped him off. “They’ll be fine. You gonna sit there watching TV all night or are you gonna help me choose a bed? Since you broke the last one.”  
  
“That was _not_ my fault!”

“You were the one riding me like a damned rodeo horse.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse like _that_ ,” said Randy haughtily. “And you shouldn’t have been encouraging me to go faster. This happens every time. You’ve been here six months or so and that was our _fifth_ bed.”

“They don’t build ‘em to last.”

~:~

“More like they aren’t built to withstand a 200+ pair of horny vampires fucking one another senseless night after night upon it.” Randy mused without shame before sighing, “I swore this one would last longer though--- I mean, we only picked it because it was oak, sturdy, thick, like old beds used to be.”

“Again,” John said drolly, “Apparently even the only beds wouldn’t have been able to withstand two horny vampires fucking relentlessly upon it—“he cut off when Ted and Cody appeared, neither man wearing a shirt and clad in what appeared to be sweatpants. They seemed casual, comfortable, and were it not for the slight atmosphere that Randy could sense from his child he’d think that everything was perfectly fine between the two of them “Well hello,” he mused with a small smirk, brows rising slightly, “We didn’t think we’d be seeing _you two_ anytime soon.” For a moment Ted and Cody seemingly tried to play ignorant, but Ted’s blush gave it away.

“How are you feeling, Ted?” Randy asked without preamble and Ted’s blush got darker, his heart picking up just slightly because of his embarrassment, “I feel fine, thank you,” the blonde said levelly, aware that Randy was looking at his neck and could probably smell Cody all over him. Actually, Ted’s answer was downplayed; he felt _amazing_ connecting with Cody like that again, but their conversation just now had really… given him a kick in the gut. It wasn’t as though he’d never considered it before, it was just that, well, having it spelled out for him (and by Cody of all people) was really something that he couldn’t just shake off without much care.

“I take it you surfaced for food?” Randy added, moving to John as he spoke and planting himself quite smartly atop the man’s lap as he commandeered the laptop from him quite impressively, John merely rolling his eyes and leaning back slightly so Randy wouldn’t end up essentially snogging the screen because of how close he was to it. “Yeah,” Cody answered for Ted, an arm wrapping around his lover’s middle reflexively. Even in a few weeks Ted had managed to put some more weight on, but he was still a good way off from being back to the healthy weight that he had been before Cody had passed on, and Cody really wanted to get him back to it.

“Want to just order him something in?” Randy asked, and Ted looked surprised, as did Cody, before Cody then narrowed his eyes slightly, “You just want to smell his pizza don’t you?” he asked and Ted stared at each vampire in turn before leaning into Cody and asking, “That’s not a euphemism for anything, right?” there was a clear uncertainty in his tone and despite himself Cody couldn’t help but laugh. And even though Ted had made an effort to lower his voice it clearly reached Randy and John because Randy said sweetly, “Though I’m sure you’re very much a pleasure in bed, Teddy, and not bad on the eye—“he grinned as Cody and John both shifted slightly.

They would both know that he didn’t mean it (or, technically, that his comment held no genuine attraction in it even though Randy could appreciate that Ted was a good looking guy) but their territoriality would be roused even so. “—but you’re not quite my type. No, that wasn’t a euphemism.” He then looked wistful and John picked up the story, “Obviously, since Evan was turned, we haven’t had any reason to call for takeaway food since, and, well, we miss the smells. That’s all there is to it. Sure, we’ve been getting more smells in the way of food since you’ve been here, but…” but takeout food was different to home-cooked food. Ted looked immensely relieved.

“I could feel offended by that expression you know,” Randy said with mock-seriousness, pouting his bottom lip out somewhat, “Most people would kill to be the object of my desires.” Cody placed a hand on Ted’s back as the other made to apologise, clearly not used to Randy’s jokerly ways as of yet, “More likely that _John_ will kill anyone who attempts to become the object of your desires.” Randy immediately reached an arm behind him, curling it around John’s neck and caressing the baby-fine hairs on the nape of his neck in a soothing gesture because John looked rather put-out by that last comment. “He wouldn’t do that. He knows who I’m interested in most.”

It was clear smarm but John’s lips curled into a slight smile despite himself, shaking his head in amusement as he reached around Randy to take possession of the mouse once more since his lover seemed more interested in messing around with the youngest clan member of their human house-mate. Cody went and fetched Ted a menu (they were leftovers from Evan’s human days, mainly some Chinese menus and pizza menus, though there was a curry-house and an Italian slotted into the messy pile inside of one of their numerous kitchen drawers) before also getting him the phone. It took less than thirty seconds and Ted needed a moment to adjust.

“Do you think they’ll deliver out here?” he asked and John chuckled slightly before Cody supplied, “Given the fact that we tip the delivery boy about 1000% to ensure such a service I’d say yes.” Ted still looked dubious but knew he had no reason to genuinely doubt Cody’s words, reaching for the phone he’d been handed and dialling the number even as he flipped the menu open to have a check. It felt like eons since he had ordered a pizza and even though he knew he was probably going to get what he always got it never hurt to check just in case something new and interesting popped up. As Ted was distracted by the call Randy motioned to Cody.

Slowly, as though his child had already sussed what was going to be said to him, Cody moved to where his sire sat upon his grandsire and mate’s knee, noticing from the computer screen that they were looking for a new bed. “Hey, cool,” he said, hoping to forestall the impending conversation somehow, “That bed rotates. I think you should get that one. Or, better yet, you get ours and we’ll have that one. You can even have the mattress.” Randy seemed to consider this for a moment; it would be much less hassle for him and John if they could just move the bed in right away, and Cody didn’t seem too fussed about waiting…

Even as Randy was debating the pros and cons though, Cody was thinking to himself that there was no way that the sheets from the bed would be included in that bargain. They had been brought to match as closely as possible to those he and Ted had had in their home together to try and ease some of his ‘homesickness’ when he had first been brought to the manor, and they were also the sheets he had slept on with Ted, in two years, and were now the sheets he had also made love to Ted on for the first time in two years, so they therefore had even more sentimental value to him than they ever did before. And that would still hold after they were washed.

“We were planning on the rotating one actually,” John joked, pulling Randy from his wandering thoughts and allowing him to focus his mind once more, cursing the fact that Cody had managed to get him so easily distracted. Besides… there was no way that Cody’s bed would be able to sustain himself and John with their lovemaking tendencies; a new bed would have a much better chance. “Aww,” Cody said, avoiding his sire’s eyes, “Maybe I can convince Ted to let me get one…” he then trailed off as Randy murmured, “What’s wrong?” though he didn’t want to exactly open up about his and Ted’s privacy too much, even to those close to him, he knew he may have to.

But, not right then. “Nothing yet,” Cody murmured softly, “It’s nothing,” he repeated with as much conviction as he could when he saw the disbelieving look on Randy (and even John’s) face, “We just had a little talk is all,” he said, oblivious to the fact that John and Randy had already surmised what they would have talked about. Chris and Evan had gone through the same talks after all, and more frequently and with a lot more raised voices and arguments than Cody and Ted had seemed to have had thus far. To be fair though the arguments mostly stemmed from Chris’ obstinate attitude at the time that had wanted nothing to do with Evan changing.

As Cody pulled away from John and Randy before they could question him further Ted put the phone down and looked up as Cody approached. “They said it’d be here within half an hour,” he said and he had to admit he was somewhat surprised. When he had given the general address of the area (he had long since memorised it given the amount of packages that he had had to sign for previously) they had said they wouldn’t deliver that far out, but when he gave the actual address the man had immediately began singing a different tune. Apparently the generous tips that had been given to the delivery boys in the past had held much more sway than even realised.

~::~

“Pizza!” a voice hollered from upstairs just after Ted had paid for the delivery and closed the front door. When Evan suddenly vaulted the bannister from the upstairs landing and hit the ground lithely several feet away from him Ted had startled violently and almost dropped his pizza box; Cody had been on-hand to catch it for him though before the precious pizza inside was damaged. Ted stared at Evan hazily and the vampire grinned, flashing small, pearly teeth with slightly elongated canines before saying, “Is that the spicy meat-feast? Please tell me that’s the spicy meat-feast,” he said and Ted nodded slowly, “Yeah, that’s what I ordered,” he nodded.

“You even got jalapenos on it,” Evan said as he scented the air, eyes hooding slightly, “I’m impressed.” He had been something of a fan of spicy food himself when he had been human and able to eat food. “He likes some spice,” Cody nodded, walking Ted around Evan and back to the living-room, setting Ted on the couch and putting his pizza on the coffee-table for him. Evan followed, perching himself on Chris’ usual seat and curling his legs underneath him. Ted glanced at him, and then at John and Randy--- all of their eyes were focused on the closed pizza-box. Only Cody seemed somewhat composed in the presence of the pizza.

‘Somewhat’ being the operative word, Ted thought to himself as he sat down and flipped the box open, seeing the way even Cody’s nostrils flared as more of the scent was unleashed into the air. “Um…” Ted looked at them as he reached for a slice, feeling like he was some sort of gazelle surrounded by wild animals and had the best pick of the food, that they might launch at him any moment even though he knew they physically wouldn’t be able to eat the pizza. “Could you all maybe… please not stare at me?” and didn’t that make it sound like he was intending to do something dirty as opposed to merely having something to eat?

With the way that the vampires in the room all seemed to lean forward for a better look though as a long string of gooey cheese meant that Ted had to give it the obligatory stretch before it broke made him feel as though he was making a video for some sort of fetish pornography. Blushing darkly Ted then caught Cody’s eye and sent him a pleading look; he’d barely started his meal but already he knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry on if they continued looking at him like that. Cody looked up then and sent the others a look, and that seemed to snap them all out of whatever pizza-induce trance they had been in, immediately busying themselves with other things.

“They didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Cody whispered into Ted’s ear, and even the small sensation of Cody’s lips against his ear was enough to send a tingle to Ted’s currently-being-sated-stomach, making him cross his legs as subtly as possible in the hopes of preventing the reaction he could feel building from manifesting itself anytime soon. “It’s just been so long since we’ve had that sort of food in the house, that’s all… you should just be lucky that Hunter hasn’t realised you’ve got some; it was probably his favourite food, so if he sees you sat here eating it when he can’t have any he’ll probably be able to actually cry.”

~:~

Ted chuckled a little at the thought of Hunter actually crying over a pizza. He continued to eat, still very aware of everyone stealing small looks at him, or more accurately at his pizza – did they really miss food all that much? Still, he supposed that it was one of those things; most foods were good but _nothing_ affected the senses like the scent of take-out pizza. Except maybe bacon. As well as the food-porn looks he was getting, he realised he was missing the feel of Cody’s hand sneaking into the box – Cody had been a part-time model and any kind of indulgence such as pizza was supposed to be strictly off the menu, however Cody could never resist in the past and even when he was supposed to be laying off anything with grease, calories or taste, he would often pick the occasional slice of pepperoni from the toppings, or maybe even steal an _entire slice_ , alternately protesting that it was only a little and bitching Ted out teasingly for putting the temptation in his way.

Ted made a mental note that next time he got pizza, he would do so while everyone else was resting so that he didn’t have those longing glances sent his way, the lag in conversation as everyone pretended they weren’t really thinking of the food. Although he wasn’t sure that would go down too well either, since it wasn’t like he could bury the remnants. Still, perhaps he would anyway and share it with Justin – the gardener was the only man he had seen during the day except for the delivery guys (and Layla but she didn’t count) and the only none-vampire he’d had a sensible conversation with since he’d found out that Cody was still alive. He didn’t know what werewolves ate but hey, even if they had no dietary restrictions then there were still very few people who would turn down pizza.

John was losing his track about saying something about ordering the new bed (most of his attention was set on subtly watching Ted chasing the toppings that wanted to slide off all at once) when they heard the front door open and Ted glanced up from his food. “Hunter and Shawn,” Cody supplied, smirking a little. He was about to tell Ted about the little quirks of the oldest of Randy’s children – that they had a bit of a thing for alfresco sex – when there was a blur and Ted nearly leapt out of his skin when Hunter appeared at his feet, face around an inch from the box in Ted’s lap.

“Pizza,” he said reverentially.

Cody growled territorially – in his opinion, Hunter was far too close to his mate for comfort and he was more than willing to use force to show it, even if the elder would hand his ass to him. Sensing the atmosphere, Randy cleared his throat. “Hunter, if you’ve quite finished freaking Ted out?”

Shawn appeared in the room, giving the pizza a look that was all but indifferent after the reactions of the rest of the clan and then grabbed Hunter by the back of his shirt, hauling him away. “You’re making a scene, stop it. You can _eat_ pizza.”

“But it doesn’t taste of anything!” whined Hunter, very uncharacteristically from what Ted had seen of him. “And it smells so _gooooood_ …”

Ted considered dumping the pizza in the bin, but the thought of the horrified comments he’d get at being able to leave it uneaten coupled with a rather wicked desire to tease. Instead of leaving it, he finished the meal with every sign of enjoyment before sighing contentedly. Every set of eyes on him looked enviously covetous, except for Cody who just looked amused. He knew damned well what Ted’s game was.

Evan made a disappointed little sound before springing up and taking the box before Ted could even think about moving. Chris watched with some amusement. “You’d better not be keeping that in our room Ev.”

“I’m not _that_ sad.” Still, Evan seemed to be considering it a moment before he looked back at Ted with a big smile. “Hey Ted? Cody said you could play golf. Can you show me?”

Chris sighed. “Not this again.”

“Oh come on babe,” said Evan coaxingly. “I just wanna win one game, just _one_. And you won’t play with me.”

“I don’t care what Alice Cooper does these days, golf still isn’t very rock n’ roll.”

“Rock’s different these days Chris,” said Cody with a definite slyness in his voice that Ted didn’t miss, and he didn’t miss the exasperated look that Evan shot him either.

Chris snorted and went off into a rant that was very clearly a familiar one. Ted didn’t pay attention after the first couple of minutes as it seemed to be something about how modern rock singers were _boring_ , lacked panache and memorable behaviour and _that_ affected their songs, which were as unmemorable as they were. There was the occasional reminisce that Ted thought just had to be exaggerated, including one about a pre-golf Alice.

“You _had_ to set him off,” murmured Evan, too quietly for Chris to hear but perfectly audible to Ted and Cody. Cody merely flipped him a wink and continued to sit silently through Chris’s rant, which had moved on to lamenting the sense of pushing boundaries and trying anything new. Eventually Chris stopped and there was a moments complete quiet as if they were waiting for him to get his second wind and start again.

“So, can you teach me to play golf?” Evan asked, completely disregarding Chris’s speech.

“We’ll have to play in the dark,” Ted pointed out. “It’s not really gonna be easy.”

“Nah, we’ve all got great night vision, we can show you where our balls are.”

Cody snorted and Ted fought back a smirk, wondering if that had been deliberate – probably. “Where are we gonna play? And my night vision sucks, I won’t be able to see the holes.”

“We could set up a little thing out in the garden, dig a hole, shove a flag in it and smack the ball around.”

“And this is why you never win at golf,” Hunter pointed out, then looked at Ted and gave a rather evil smile. “Hey, Cody mentioned you were sporty.”

“I guess,” said Ted cautiously, he had never felt quite as at ease with Hunter and Shawn as he had with the others.

“Cool, that’ll liven things up around here.”

“No,” said Randy forbiddingly.

“Randy!”

Randy shot him a look. “Golf, okay. But show some common sense. You guys forget yourselves all the time, _and_ you cheat. Remember football, the tackle you made on Christian? Justin’s still bitching about the foot-deep groove you left in the lawn. Rugby? Adam and Chris went straight through the wall. And as for hockey… damned Canadians smashed every stick we had in four minutes fouling each other.”

“You’re gonna say ‘damned kids wrecking the joint’ any minute, aren’t you?” asked John teasingly. “You sound just like someone’s mother and _you_ —“ He pointed at Chris. “Sound like the grumpy old man down the road who moans things were better when he was young.”

Randy and Chris both flipped John off, who merely grinned at the action, showing his dimples and looking disarmingly human. Randy shook his head. “The point isn’t how you trashed the garden, though I should be pissed over that. I’m thinking more of Ted’s well being here.”

Cody considered how Ted approached sports, playing with a couple of amateur teams even when he had been living with Cody, going into each game as if he were in some major cup final or similar. No, that attitude would be picked up on by all of them and they might not mean to hurt him but Ted’s bones would break if any one of them decided to get too rough when taking him down, or kicking a ball at him. He shivered at the thought.

“But we can play golf, right?” asked Evan hopefully.

“I don’t mind giving you a few pointers,” said Ted with a smile, thinking how there were a couple of things about Evan that reminded him of Cody, namely how he was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something and wouldn’t be dissuaded.

Evan cheered, announcing he was going to get the golf clubs and running off. Chris shook his head a little. “Oh great, grandpa sports from my twenty-five year old mate.”

“I go shooting as well, if you ever wanna join me,” said Shawn unexpectedly. “Cody said you hunted sometimes.”

Ted looked a little confused. “Do you need to hunt?”

“Do you?” countered Shawn and smirked. “Actually it’d be easier to hunt without the gun. I could take down a deer, even a big one, easily. It’s not about that though, it’s about the sport, right?”  
  
“Right,” agreed Ted. “Yeah, that sounds like fun.” He glanced at Cody, who was blank-faced – that was one subject they’d never seen eye to eye on and Ted had always couched his hunting in other terms, saying he was going ‘camping’ or ‘for a day out’ with his brothers. Cody always knew damned well what he was up to though and it was just something that they didn’t talk about in order to avoid a row over ethics and animal rights.

“You coming out to play golf with us?” he asked Cody hopefully, wondering if Cody might see his hunting differently these days. And in truth, he hadn’t been hunting since Cody died. There were a lot of things he had never managed to find the enthusiasm for after that. Probably including breathing, if it hadn’t been involuntary.

Cody nodded. “Yeah. You and Ev go set up and I’ll be out pretty soon.” It wasn’t that he hadn’t planned to go with the two of them, he had, but Randy had caught his eye and gave him a look he could read very well; Randy wanted a word. “I’m gonna talk Randy into buying us a revolving bed too!”

“Just as long as you don’t plan on taping me eating pizza on it and putting it on the internet,” replied Ted, completely deadpan and obviously not really believing Cody’s story, although he didn’t seem to suspect anything malicious.

“That could keep me on line for hours,” sighed Cody. “More if there was some way of getting the smell to come through the speakers.”

Evan appeared in the doorway, giving Ted a hopeful look and bearing a couple of golf clubs. “We ready?”

“On my way,” said Ted, getting up and rubbing his stomach as he headed off with Evan – it hadn’t been long since he had eaten and in honesty the thought of lazing on the couch was more appealing than trying to play golf in the dark. Once he had gone, Randy got up and quietly slipped out of the room, John watching him go before following.   
  
“I don’t envy Ted for a moment,” said Chris casually. “You know what Evan’s problem is when it comes to golf, right?”

“No, what?” asked Cody.

“He’s not in control of his strength yet,” said Chris. “You ever noticed how he doesn’t mind putting a hand on Ted’s arm or something but he never does anything more than that? And you know how huggy Evan is. He’s been warned, because he doesn’t know how to deal with his strength yet. You remember how that is, right Codes?” When Cody nodded, Chris continued. “So, he tries to give the ball a tap with the club and the next thing, it’s sailing over the wall. It’s frustrating for him, but it might just be a good learning experience, if Ted can keep his patience.”

Cody thought that Ted probably could, although Ted could get fed up sometimes he would at least know that Evan was trying. “I’m gonna go feed and join them,” he said, getting up.

“You didn’t feed enough from Teddy already?” asked Shawn slyly.

Cody shot him a dirty look. “You’re so funny,” he growled, Shawn had to know that it wasn’t possible for him to feed from Ted in the same way that they all fed from their own mates. They might need to indulge in the occasional top-up to prevent themselves from simply passing the same blood between one another but Ted had no way to replenish. And then Cody recalled his moment the night before when he had taken Ted’s blood without a thought for the consequences and took his guilt along to the kitchen with him.

Randy was already heating him up a mug of blood – the younger ones needed to top up more frequently than the older but Randy and John both seemed to make sure to drink from their supplies frequently Cody had noticed. Randy passed over the mug and Cody took it, staring into the depths of the blood and feeling uneasy. The almost meaty smell of it was conspiring to turn his stomach and he wondered again if he should mention a potential problem with the fridge they kept their supplies in. When he had first been turned and realised what his diet would be, he had never had a physical issue with the blood (although his mind was quite grossed out by it all). These days it seemed his mind was used to the blood but his senses didn’t approve, unless it was Ted he was drinking from. Typical. Well, it was just tough luck for him because there was no way he was going to be drinking from Ted all the time. Once a month maybe, and only then since Ted seemed to enjoy it as well.

“Everything okay Codes?” asked Randy casually.

Cody shrugged. “Just kinda what I should have anticipated. I bet you thought of it already. Ted was thinking about how it’s gonna be with him aging and me not. I don’t know if he’s more worried about me going off him because he’s older or if he’s worried about dying and leaving me alone for the rest of eternity. Ted grew up in a religious household and it’s weird, he seems to have shed a lot of the stuff he hung on to even when we were living together but some stuff he does keep hold of.” He smirked into his cup, still not taking a drink. “I think he’s concerned we’ll have different afterlives.”

Randy exchanged a quick glance with John and nodded. “Yeah, I thought that might happen sooner or later. I _was_ gonna warn you about it, before you took off on your own and went after him. I’ve seen it once or twice before.” He chuckled suddenly. “There was Shawn but you have to remember, life expectancy back then was such that Shawn was considered to be pretty damned old and living on borrowed time already. And there was the same thing with Christian and Adam. Less of it with Chris and Evvie, because Evan’s so damned young.”

“I never did understand why they couldn’t wait,” said Cody with a slight smile. “They could have been the same age and turned Evan then. But that’s Evan, he wants what he wants and he wants it now.”

Randy kept his expression neutral, but he reflected that it had been relatively easy to keep Cody in the dark about certain things given his newbie status and that he was still missing Ted so badly at the time, but if he had an inkling why Chris had finally given in to Evan then the shit would hit the fan in roughly three seconds. There was a bubble he didn’t want to burst and anyway, he might be worried over nothing. Only time would tell.

“What did you say to him?” asked John curiously, who had no real idea what had happened with Chris and Evan since he had not been around when Chris had turned his young lover.

“That we’ve got a lot of time to think about it,” said Cody, and then continued reluctantly. “And that we had more pressing things to think about. Like how long it is before he’s reported missing and what he’s gonna do about his family.”

“They’re close?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah.” John considered it a moment. “The trouble there is that no one else can decide for him. I mean, we could help him out if he wanted us to but there’s a long-term thing in there. And none of us can choose for him.”  
  
“I know.” Cody sighed, looking up from the cup in his hand. “I think it’s gonna be hard for Ted no matter what he decides to do, but maybe he can – I dunno, say he’s living away and visit every so often.”

“Without mentioning you.”

“Obviously, they all saw the funeral.” Cody shrugged. “He’ll have to lie like crazy if he stays in contact with them. He’ll have to lie if he decides to live in their world and visit ours. And if he wants to go back to it forever – well, I don’t think even Randy can make him forget that I’m not still alive.”

He put the cup on the table and gave them an apologetic smile. “I want to go spend some time with Ted. Even now, I can’t seem to get enough of being around him. I’ve missed it too much and I know that if he does decide not to stay, I’ll regret every moment I wasn’t with him.”

He left the kitchen and Randy and John remained quiet until he had gone outside. John sighed. “I didn’t think there’d be that many problems with them two being together.”

“It’s never easy when there’s a human involved,” replied Randy.

“You think that Ted’ll want to leave, rather than lie to his family?”

Randy drummed his fingers on the side for a moment. “No. I don’t think that for a moment. I was the one who watched over him while Cody was learning and trust me, Ted would have given up anything to have Cody with him. He won’t leave Cody. He couldn’t. But no, it won’t be easy at all.”

His eyes went to the still full cup that Cody had left on the table and hoped that their troubles weren’t beginning already.


	20. Life Isn't Always Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted has a little heart-to-heart with the bubbly Justin and learns once again how things just aren't always as they seem in Cody's new world.

When Cody entered the garden he just managed to get his head out of the way in time to watch as Evan’s ball came shooting towards him and embedded itself into the solid back wall of the manor’s massive garden not millimetres from where the vampire’s cheek had been. If he’d stepped out a moment earlier, taken one step more, there was every chance that his friend might have accidentally broken his face… And Cody would admittedly probably stake himself in despair at it.

“Oh no—sorry Cody!” there was clear contriteness and upset in Evan’s voice and Cody waved him off; he knew that that wasn’t an intentional shot. “How’s it going?” he asked in some amusement and Ted sent him a look before giving a wan laugh, “Well, he’s got a powerful swing on him, I’ll give him that much.” And if it wasn’t for the fact that he had _seen_ Evan make a conscious attempt to minimise his power on the motion he would have thought that the other was just a little too enthusiastic… plus the hole was nowhere near the wall and even Ted knew that despite the fact that he could barely see his hand in front of his face right then.

There was a powerful overhead light over the backdoor but even that wasn’t doing Ted much good outside of its main circle of light. “OK Evan,” Ted said, setting his own golf-club down momentarily before approaching the smaller man. He then froze, unsure how Evan might react to Ted touching him. “Am I OK to…?” it wasn’t for anything illicit, obviously, he was going to attempt to help Evan with his swing, but it seemed appropriate to ask. Evan looked vaguely amused before glancing to Cody, “Is it OK, Codes?” the last thing he wanted was for the other to get accidentally territorial and try to rip his arm off or something because of an innocent touch from Ted.

Rolling his eyes in fond exasperation Cody waved a hand, “Of course it’s OK,” he drawled as he approached them, picking up Ted’s discarded club for him and holding it. Golf had never been his thing even though he had put himself through a game of it once when a client of Ted’s (and the client’s wife) had invited them for a social game. It had been boring as sin for Cody but the client’s wife seemed wholly taken by the fact he was fashion-savvy and a part-time model and by the end of the evening they had secured the important client with no problem at all… actually, they’d been invited to dinner with them the week before he’d died.

So, needless to say he wouldn’t be actively seeking to be involved, but if Evan wanted someone new to have a go against then he’d do so for his friend’s sake. Ted nodded and moved behind Evan, giving Evan a fleeting pat on the knees as an indication that he should bend them some more, not letting his hands linger on Evan for a few seconds at a time. It wasn’t that he felt uncomfortable touching Evan, but there was something in him that said it was _wrong_ to be touching another man with Cody there, and he could feel the small tense twitches Evan gave whenever he touched him as well. But Ted knew being so close to another human was a novelty.

“Right—“Ted placed his hands around Evan’s from where they rested around the club before then pushing down gently on Evan’s hands to direct the club, “Maybe if you increase the outward arc of your swing as opposed to your downward connection off the arc it might take some of your power down a little.” Had Evan still had the ability Ted was sure he would have been blushing about his inability to hit the ball like a normal person could. In his defence though he was still young and learning--- there was every chance that even Cody couldn’t hit the ball without sending it through the wall or over the fence anymore, for he was the same.

No, technically Cody should be _even worse_. Evan made a promise to himself that he would have Cody take a swing before their session was over so that he could salvage something of his ego. Nodding as Ted released him and backed away Evan set his jaw slightly and brought the club up, swinging in a wide arc in a move that would have looked wild and overbearing to any outside viewer, but the blow was dead-centre and in reality perfectly controlled. The ball didn’t seem to have as much force behind it this time but it still left the floor and cleared the top of the wall--- hard enough to leave a groove where it glanced Ted would find the next time he went out in light.

“Oh,” Evan pouted slightly and his shoulders slumped; he had known that this would happen but he had been hoping somehow that maybe with Ted there to direct him it might be better than usual. Still, he supposed that had been better than usual to some degree. “Let me see how you do it?” Evan asked and Ted startled momentarily because he’d been lost in thought of wondering just _how far_ Evan might be able to hit the ball were he to be on a flat surface. “Uh, OK,” he nodded looking for his club momentarily before he realised Cody was holding it out to him. “Cheers baby,” he smiled and Cody smiled back, fingers deliberately caressing Ted’s.

The little action sent a shiver down Ted’s spine that Evan and Cody could physically see and Evan winked at Cody and mouthed, _You horrid tease_ before backing up some so that Ted could stand where he had been standing. Ted bent, placing his ball down (and yes, Cody’s eyes were immediately drawn to his ass as usual, only this time the need to look was greater because he had been buried inside that tight sheath not an hour or two before after such a long hiatus) before straightening up. The stance he adopted was essentially the same as the one he had tried to get Evan to do, but with a sense of naturalness to the action Evan didn’t have.

Despite not being _exactly_ able to see the hole where Evan had flagged for their balls to get to, Ted knew vaguely where it was just outside the circle of light they all stood under. Swinging the club down Ted chipped the ball up, it vanishing into the darkness after a few moments. Ted vaguely heard the _rustle, flump_ that told him the ball had landed but he couldn’t see where the ball had gotten. “Not bad,” Cody spoke from right next to his ear and Ted jumped because Cody had been stood next to Evan when he’d glanced at him before taking his swing. “Yeah?” he asked, trying to act as though he hadn’t just jumped a foot into the air in surprise before.

“Yeah,” Evan said brightly as he bounced over, clearly recovering from his previous pouting, “You’re about ten yards from the hole, and tilting a little to the right.” He moved into the shadows and then stood over the ball, lighting up the watch on his wrist so that Ted could see that light and know where about he meant the ball was. “Chances are we aren’t going to be able to actually take a shot to the hole… Or you might,” he amended, remembering they could see in the dark, “But I won’t.” Evan then grinned, seizing his chance, “Maybe Cody could take the shot for you?” he asked innocently and Ted looked between him and Cody and back again.

He had the distinct feeling that he was missing something but he didn’t know what. “I guess that’s fine,” Ted nodded; it’d get Cody into the ‘game’ some more, ‘cause he had to be bored just standing there and watching him and Evan. Cody however, didn’t look overly enthused. Ted, bless him, completely misunderstood why this was though and told Evan, “Cody hasn’t much liked golf, though he’s played with me a few times.” It took all of Evan’s self-control not to supply the taunting _Oh I’ll just bet that Cody’s played with you a few times_ that wanted out, but only because he didn’t want to cheapen their reconnecting with one another in that fashion. _It was too soon._

“Fine,” Cody said stiffly, accepting the club from Ted. He walked to the little spike in the ground and placed his ball atop the flat head, preparing himself for his swing. Evan’s body tensed lightly in ready anticipation of a triumphant dance to celebrate that his swing was not the worst, but sadly, he was quite disappointed; not only did Cody not put the ball through the wall or over it, he managed to keep it in the garden and only somewhat of a distance away from the actually hole. Evan’s jaw dropped in a manner that he was sure Chris would have considered very undignified were he to see it but the young vampire could care less.

“That’s not fair!” Evan cried, just managing to resist throwing the club to the ground in frustration (the last time he’d done that he’d ended up bending the damn thing like a pretzel because of the force) but it was a close thing. “You did better than me!” now he was really getting upset about it. Cody had a feeling it was maybe because he’d had to work harder, faster, to learn control quicker to allow him to get what he wanted, whereas Evan had had Chris there with him already and he had never really had to worry about accidentally harming his mate because he might get too rough. Cody hadn’t had the luxury of being able to take his time.

Not to say that he was as composed as the elder vampires or that he was pissed off because he couldn’t take the time the way that Evan could, but he knew that he had put something more in the way of effort in that Evan hadn’t had to. “Hey,” Ted said, obviously trying to assure the other, “Don’t worry about it. No one’s perfect the first time around,” Ted sent Cody a quick wink when Evan turned away and he’d accepted the club back from his lover and Cody smiled back warmly; that was his Teddy, always ready to bolster someone’s confidence, to encourage them to do better in their endeavours, to get to the point they were pleased with themselves.

“Why don’t you try again?” Ted suggested and Evan sighed before nodding his head, a determined expression taking over his face. _He could do this_ , he told himself as he moved, taking another ball from the impressively sized bucket of the things that they had nearby, _one way or another he was going to get himself to the level where he could play all of the sports he missed without looking like a freak for being too good, or without accidentally breaking the equipment._ Randy always insisted that when something got broken it could be easily fixed but Evan always felt like such a child when that happened, and he wanted to minimise the incidents as much as possible.

Cody placed an arm around Ted’s middle as he rested his chin on Ted’s strong shoulder, his mate watching his clan-brother preparing to take another swing. Cody’s eyes, however, were on the bruise that he had left on Ted’s neck before. It had faded down just the tiniest bit, but that was to be expected considering that humans didn’t heal anywhere near as fast as they did. The second that Cody felt his fangs beginning to come out he pulled back somewhat, turning away sharply as he tried to get himself under control. The movement was enough to attract Ted’s attention but not enough to make him concerned--- just what Cody wanted.

Of course Evan noticed what was wrong with the other, and his heart went out to him; he’d never been in Cody’s position, but his mate had, and it was only since he had become a vampire that he had realised how much effort Chris had really been putting in when it came to him. Even their sex-life had been completely revamped (no pun intended… if that was even a pun at all, Evan thought to himself) since his change. He had seen a whole new side to Chris since his change, and he wouldn’t trade anything in the world to go back to being human. Sure, as the pizza incident had proved the loss of food was possibly the hardest bit.

Because, really, aside from the loss of sunlight Evan determined that not much in his life had changed. He could still go out (usually with Chris or the others as a chaperone, but Cody got that too so that wasn’t as bad, though still somewhat embarrassing given how old he was) and he could still go to the cinema, and drive cars, play his games consoles… in his mind life had become so much better for him since he had died. But, at the same time it could be different with Ted. For one, he had heard that Ted was really close to his family, and the man had a steady job and people that would notice him missing… who probably already _had_ noticed.

When Cody straightened up again Evan cocked his head in silent question and Cody quirked a slight smile before nodding his head; he was alright, it was just… becoming a little harder than usual to stop his fangs from coming out around Ted. And it wasn’t just for the sake of feeding either; he just wanted to _take_ from Ted because of the way it felt, he wanted to _give_ Ted that unique pleasure experience that he knew humans experienced when they were bitten by one of their kind; though the effect was of course more profound because they were mates. Not bonded as mates, but still mates nonetheless. The exchange took mere seconds, Ted missing it all.

By the time Chris came out to get them (after what was in fact three hours, enough time to have let Evan have his moment of fun and also enough time for Chris to commandeer before his little mate had to rest for the day, and also to give Ted some alone time with Cody if he wanted for the same reason) Evan had managed to get the ball so it actually stayed _on the ground_ as opposed to came off of it, and the delight that Evan exhibited made Ted feel that it had been worth it to be spending the time squinting in the darkness and relying on Cody to tell him about that which he couldn’t see when it came to the balls landing and such.

“Chris, Chris!” Evan said excitedly, “I managed to keep it on the floor, and I only put _one_ through the wall this time!” he seemed so proud that it made Ted smile slightly--- but then the smile slipped as he saw something in Chris’ expression that was almost difficult to define. It wasn’t a bad look by any means, but it had something of a paternal air about it, even though it would seem somewhat incestuous in a way to use that term since they were dating and therefore _not_ related by blood. The blonde startled from his thoughts slightly when Chris suddenly turned to him, “Thanks for this Ted, it was really nice of you,” and he really seemed to mean it.

“Really, it’s nothing,” Ted hastened to assure, “We can even play again sometime if you like,” he added and Chris gave a pained face then as Evan whooped in excitement at the prospect. When they headed inside Ted allowed his mind to wander down the tangent he had been on before: he was more than aware now that vampires were possessive and protective of their mates, but Chris… Chris seemed to go just that extra mile with Evan, as though he was afraid that the second he took his eyes off of Evan something might happen to him. And he doubted that that was wholly a lingering consequence of Dave Batista throwing Evan around that night.

“Hey,” Cody’s hands rubbed up and down Ted’s arms gently as he stepped back to him, attempting to warm his lover up because even though the night air had been quite warm before it was starting to drop now, and Ted was still shirtless like when they had first arrived downstairs. It didn’t bother Cody to be out in the chill half-naked (hell, he could probably swim through a frozen lake and not bat an eyelash) but Ted would need to go inside soon before he ended up doing himself a mischief or something, “What are you thinking about?” he asked, brushing a kiss over Ted’s cheek. He heard Ted sigh, as well as felt the tiny movement of his chest rising and falling.

“Cody… What really happened to Evan?” he asked softly. “I know it’s probably not my place to ask but I know pretty much everything about everyone’s background and what led to their changes, but Evan’s.” He only knew a little of Evan’s background, and Evan had so much as told him himself that this change wasn’t quite as… straightforward as it may seem looking at the clearly adoring vampire lover he possessed. Cody reached his hand down to Ted’s, curling their fingers together before gently turning Ted to face him, his free arm going around the man’s middle. “I really don’t know, Teddy,” he confessed, “I only know what I told you before.”

Ted ducked his head suddenly, a contrite and embarrassed laugh leaving him, “I’m sorry; it really isn’t my place to be asking or pressing the issue, and it isn’t fair of me to keep asking you either. I don’t know where this nosiness has come from…” as Ted rambled an apology though Cody had a feeling he knew why it was that Ted seemed to subconsciously fascinated with Evan, much like Evan was with Ted: one was what the other _used_ to be, and one was what the other potentially _could_ be. He was sure that was all it was. “Don’t be sorry, Teddy, no one’ll ever be angry at you for being curious. Come on baby, let’s go inside; it’s getting nippy out here.”

Ted quirked a slight smile at Cody as he was lead inside, “Are you referring to my erect nipples, Cody?” Cody sent him a wink, eyes drifting down Ted’s fantastic torso, but made no verbal response. He grabbed Ted a t-shirt of his from the fresh pile of ironing that had been done during the day though; he was the only one who got to see Ted’s erect nipples, thank you.

~:~

Ted spent a good part of the following day agonising over what Cody had said to him the night before, about how he might end up having to lie to the people he cared about. Admittedly he had been known to have harsh thoughts about his family, especially in the wake of Cody’s apparent death and their determination that he could get over it by simply finding himself a new love, preferably a female this time. But they had _cared_ and that had been more important than their preconceptions, especially when they had embraced Cody as part of the family.

There was no way he could leave the manor while Cody was there; it would simply be too difficult. As much as he hated being _kept_ and that he occasionally felt like an outsider (and Randy’s comment about him not playing sport with them had driven it home, even though everyone had gone out of their way to find something he _could_ be included in), he could get used to anything at all if it meant being near Cody. Leaving was not an option.

But Cody was right; his friends and family would wonder where he was. He could arrange for them to meet him at his old apartment perhaps, or go and visit _them_ during the day while Cody rested, but he couldn’t keep up the payments without a job and damned if he was going to ask Cody to pay for it. Pretending he was working away was more do-able suspicion-wise, in the long term at least and that he wanted to get away was perhaps something that would be believed if he said he needed to make a fresh start, but practically it wasn’t as simple as that.

It was mid-afternoon when he left Cody resting and went to make himself a couple of sandwiches. That done, he took them outside into the garden and saw Justin frowning over the groove that had been left in the lawn. Ted hand’t even seen it the night before and raised his eyebrows as he approached, Justin turning toward him with a rather irritated look. “Which one of those destructive assholes did this?”

“Evan,” replied Ted, thinking it a safe assumption. “We were playing golf.”

“Golf.” Justin shook his head. “Vampires just don’t know their own strength.”  
  
“Are werewolves any better?”

“Not really,” admitted Justin, both men grinning at each other a moment. “But you wouldn’t catch them playing golf either. They don’t have the attention span.”

Ted shrugged. “Well, vampires live a long time, I guess they gotta distract themselves sometime.” He regarded Justin curiously, wondering if it was polite to ask questions. “Do werewolves have that issue?”

Justin shook his head. “Werewolves tend to live the same lifespans as humans, maybe a little shorter. The change puts a strain on your heart every time and then there’s trouble with hunters and the like. Mythical perhaps, but not immortal.”

“So, uh – do you mind me asking and you don’t have to answer…” Ted wasn’t a nosy person by nature but Justin had confused him a little. “ _Why_ do you wanna change? If you’re not gonna significantly outlive one another?”

Justin looked slightly amused, as if he had guessed what had led to the question, leaning on the rake that had been his first weapon of choice in the attempt to pacify the lawn. “There’s no real reason at all. But it’s a mate thing I guess – vampires have those too, right?” Ted nodded and Justin continued. “It’s instinct for any species that can think to want to have a loved one share their lifestyle I think. It makes everyone’s lives easier. Wade’s not completely happy at changing me I think, but being a werewolf’s better than being a vampire anyway.”

Ted chuckled. “Is this some kind of pissing contest, like in the movies?”

Joining in with the laughter, Justin shook his head. “There’s a lot of tension between werewolves and vamps sometimes but not as much as Hollywood wants you to think. Vampires get pissy with werewolves because they’re arrogant and think that we should be as easy to manipulate as humans, they get suspicious when they’re not. And werewolves don’t trust anyone that lives through having their throat torn out. And there’s a personality thing too, vampires tend to be more restrained, they have to be given where their food comes from, they’re careful. Werewolves eat animals not people and they don’t _have_ to be on four legs all the time. They’re _not_ restrained. But for the most part they get on well enough.” He chuckled again. “Wade once said that he thinks Randy likes having a friend that he can’t force to take his crap.”

He looked at Ted a moment, still smiling but a little more serious. “I want to be changed because I want to share things with Wade that I can’t as a human. It might actually be a little wiser for me to remain human in our circumstances but the heart wants to share everything with the person who owns it, yeah?”

“Yeah,” agreed Ted thoughtfully.

“Werewolves have to give up less,” said Justin. “That doesn’t make the choice easy but it helps. Even so… Wade and I have been together six years and I’m still wholly human. I’ve come to terms with changing and soon, but first I had to come to terms with Wade and then I had to realise what any kind of change would mean for me. It’s not a choice made lightly, it’s taken time. When it comes to you and your choices, learn by watching and think things over. This is one decision you can’t take back if you realise it wasn’t the right one.”

Ted nodded. “Cody and I were together three years, before – before he was turned,” he said wistfully.

That made Justin smile. “At least you know you’re in love with him.”  
  
“There was never any doubt.” Ted sighed. “I know what it’s like to be parted from him and that at least tells me that I’d never be able to get by without him.” He shook himself inwardly, there was no need to be discussing anything more personal than that with Justin. But he was easy to talk to, he understood. He had very similar issues to go through. “Hey, you want a sandwich?”

Justin shook his head. “Thanks, no. I live with a werewolf, man never stops eating. Thinks I’m underfed if I don’t go out of the door with enough food to feed a third world country in my gut.”

~:~

“This might seem like a stupid question,” Ted said a while later when he had finished his sandwiches and Justin had returned to the work he was paid to do for the household, “But have you actually _seen_ Wade in his… you know?” it seemed odd to talk about a person who physically changed considering that he had had most of his expectations about what vampires were supposed to change into smashed quite without apology in the past few weeks. It had been mildly devastating, he wouldn’t lie, to learn that they didn’t become bats _at all_.

Looking up from where he was knelt pulling weeds from one of the flowerbeds Justin leant back on his haunches momentarily before tilting his head in consideration. “Once,” he admitted, “But I don’t think I was supposed to have made the connection,” he chuckled, “I think Wade is still under the impression that I never twigged that he was the one who—“Justin cut off slightly and then paused, “I guess I should explain, huh?” he asked and Ted nodded, before then shaking his head afterwards.

“Sorry,” he apologised, “You don’t _need_ to tell me anything,” he said and Justin shrugged slightly before smiling a little sheepishly, as though what he was about to reveal was something highly embarrassing and he just hoped Ted wouldn’t laugh at him when he confessed it. “I’ll admit, like a lot of people, I had a pretty… turbulent childhood,” the other man said contemplatively. “My dad left, mum tried hard but with me and my siblings… she found it hard to cope,” he said.

Needless to say Ted hadn’t been expecting that; Justin was always so cheerful and happy it seemed, you’d never think he’d had a bad day in his life, even though it was statistically impossible for that to be true and Ted knew it. “So, anyway, when I was old enough, fourteen I think, I left South Africa—“Ted’s eyes widened in shock; at fourteen he’d barely begun venturing out to camp in the back-garden with friends without his parents’ constant supervision, “And came out here. I planned to earn money to send back home, you know?” he asked. Once again Ted nodded, completely mute for he didn’t want to interrupt Justin’s train of thought.

“But, well, it turned out to be harder than I thought. Lacking qualifications like you need out here I was overlooked for a lot of work… Anyway, one way or another I found myself running errands for ‘seedy’ customers, namely, a drug-dealer,” Justin said and he looked almost apologetic--- though Ted had no idea why Justin would want to apologise to _him_ ; Ted might not seem like much but he understood the need to do what had to be done in the circumstances; he wasn’t completely optimistic and without realistic thoughts after all. “The guy, I know now, could have been much worse to me than he was, though he was hardly _nice._ ”

“Anyway, I was running errands, picking up and delivering drugs, getting payments…” he looked rueful, “I got my ass handed to me a lot in those days. Anyhow, I was about 17 though when I first actually _tried_ drugs for myself.” It would be a lie if Ted claimed not to be shocked by that, but clearly Justin _expected_ that he would be shocked. It would probably be insulting for him actually, if he’d not reacted to the news. “I don’t know what it was exactly, but I know now that it was probably not completely pure stuff… basically, I was tripping balls.” Despite himself Ted suddenly snorted slightly and Justin’s bright grin returned once more.

“Cody and Evan laughed when I told them that as well,” he said, before sighing, “Anyway, I was feeling really… down, despite what other people had told me about how good drugs made you feel. I climbed up to the roof of the scummy flat I had managed to rent with some of the money I’d saved up from the dealer--- though I think the landlord made an allowance for me because of who I worked for. Anyway, I was on the roof and I stood right on the edge, looking down. The city was covered in lights, ‘cause it was dark, and the road was clear…” his eyes took on a faraway mist and Ted bit his lip slightly, unsure whether to ask or not.

“Were you… were you gonna… jump?” the last word was whispered, as though speaking it was some subconscious taboo to the blonde but Justin looked almost unnervingly unperturbed. “Honestly? Yeah, I think I was really… well, actually I don’t think I was thinking at all, but I had this urge, you know? Like a little voice in me telling me everything would be better if I jumped… but, suddenly, out of nowhere, something grabbed the back of my pants, lifted me off of my feet and dropped me back onto the main part of the roof. At first I thought it was some guy, but then…” he laughed, “There was this dirty great huge black wolf sitting opposite me.”

Seeing Ted’s expression Justin laughed, “ _Exactly_. Can you imagine what I must have thought? I swore I was tripping even worse, but whenever I tried to get up and go back to the edge the wolf pulled me back, or shadowed me so I couldn’t get past. In the end I fell asleep on the roof, but when I woke up the wolf was still there, sitting there, watching me, as though he’d sat over me all night.” Shaking his head somewhat Justin chuckled, “And so, I thought I was still tripping. But then, suddenly, he was gone. And… I found myself feeling really, really _empty_ without the wolf there, if that makes sense?” he asked and Ted nodded slightly.

“I didn’t see him again for a week after, but then that dog happened to be sitting outside a club where I’d been sent to fetch some drugs from…” he chuckled and shook his head, “He got hold of my pants again and started dragging me down the streets to a pretty affluent area I’d only ever passed before. I tried to free myself, but somehow I ended up inside one of the houses—“he started to chuckle a little, “Imagine my shock when I was confronted by a naked guy, walking around casual as you please--- and then that the wolf that had been sat behind me was suddenly an incredibly fit, incredibly naked guy too… it was a hell of a trip, I thought at first blush.”

~:~

Ted stared, trying to imagine a teenage Justin (and in his head, younger Justin looked both tough and vulnerable, some innocent kid who’d long since had most of the shine rubbed off him but still retained _some_ of the hope that being streetwise hadn’t quite managed to erase). “Didn’t you freak out?”

“I was trying _not_ to!” Justin smiled to himself and shook his head. “I don’t think I was doing a great job. Don’t forget, I was expected somewhere else as well and the boss wasn’t one for patience. Seems strange now, but all these naked guys seemed more of a uh, hindrance to my day than a threat. And if worst came to worst, I had a gun and I knew how to use it.”

He shrugged. “Not that it would have done me any good, but I didn’t know that then. Anyway, the naked guy in front of me gave me a look like I was something he just scraped off his shoe and says, ‘Jesus Wade, you brought the little crackhead _home_ with you?’ That pissed me off, because I wasn’t a crackhead or anything else, even if I _had_ used a couple of times – most of the runners used _something_ and I don’t know, when you’re around certain people, your own behaviour doesn’t seem as bad in comparison.”

His rather wistful expression gave way to a smile. “The guy behind me gave the other one a look and he shut up, didn’t look all that happy about it though. Then he looks at me and says, ‘Can I get you a drink?’ just as cool as you please in this broad North-English accent. That was the strangest thing of all for some reason, that I’d been dragged off by some wolf, there was two naked guys and one of them was English. I was still pretty sure I was hallucinating it all but I decided my mind was more fucked up than I thought it was.”

“I said something like, ‘I need to lie down’, because I was almost positive that I was imagining it all. The first guy just snorted and took off somewhere but Wade took me into the living room and made me sit on the couch there. He was _still_ naked and I just didn’t know where to put my face. It was like he hadn’t even noticed. Turns out he barely had, he told me later he was nervous himself and werewolves – let’s just say they aren’t known for their modesty. If a werewolf changes clothed, the clothes don’t go anywhere and they end up looking stupid or being uh, restrained? They get in the way. So Wade doesn’t really wear anything when he knows he’s going to change and he barely notices when he’s not dressed. Same goes for the others.”  
  
“I kind of imagined that Wade was the only one,” admitted Ted.

“No, Wade has a pack, rather like Randy’s clan. Only there are many differences below the surface – you know your sires, tend to remain with them or in close contact, there’s not much of a power struggle since the old days when ‘Taker brought a stop to it – yeah, I know about him, a little,” he added at Ted’s surprised look.

“It’s not always the same way with werewolves. They go solo a lot more. The packs aren’t made up of wolves who have changed one another so much. It’s more about territory with wolves. You could in theory have two vampire clans living next door to one another without issue, you couldn’t do that with werewolves. With us it’s more about territory. Which doesn’t mean that they’re not family of course, but by remaining on the territory, you become subject to the whims of the pack who’ve claimed it.”

Ted nodded, thinking he got it. “The vampires are territorial too.”  
  
“More with people than with this house though, right?” Ted nodded and Justin smiled. “That’s part of the difference, when a werewolf settles, he doesn’t leave easily, although he may travel long distances before he finds a place to call home. Vampires have no special attachment to place, which sounds rather liberating. I think John is the only vampire I’ve known who has left his clan and searched out another, although I’m told it’s not unheard of.”

Ted tilted his head. “Did Wade tell you all this?”  
  
“Some, and some I picked up by reading or watching.” Justin considered it. “That first day, I think I must have mentioned Wade being naked or asked him to put some clothes on – there’s something about a naked stranger handing you juice that makes you wary of drinking it. He did vanish to put on some pants and returned and commented I wasn’t asking many questions. I told him, curiosity can only lead to trouble. You don’t cross the boss and he _was_ the boss, even I could sense it. I also told him that I was pretty sure he was all in my head. What I didn’t mention at the time was that my imagination hated me. I had never seen anything so perfect as Wade and I was sure I never would outside of my own imagination. To have such a person seem so real was just unfair.”

“Wade looked rather angry, I think there was a script for how he expected things to go and I wasn’t playing. He expected me to freak out perhaps, to point out the wolf thing, but I hadn’t even _mentioned_ it. It was too big, I don’t know if you can understand that? I could for the moment only attack the smaller issues. And I didn’t really believe I could have seen what I did.”

He tapped his fingers against the rake, lost in recollection. “But Wade has dealt with people before I suppose and my denials of what my eyes were telling me couldn’t have been the first time. He took my free hand, picked it up and uh, kind of moved it around before he put it back. He said, ‘I’m real, the other guy you saw is real. I want to offer you a job.’”

Justin laughed out loud. “You can imagine how I took _that_. I told him that I had a job already and he was keeping me from it. Also that I was a street kid but that didn’t make me a whore. Wade looked – I don’t know, shocked. Taken aback. I don’t think he realised what his offer sounded like to me. But I wasn’t from the kind of world where a stranger offered a legitimate job just like that.”  
  
“The kind of stranger who turns into a wolf?”

“Baby steps Ted,” replied Justin with a smile. “That thought kept going around my head but it seemed so – so big. I thought if I dealt with the immediate issues, I’d be able to creep up on the wolf thing perhaps. And I didn’t need to freak myself out. He said that was not what he had been thinking at all, that he was willing to offer room and board and some cash for some light housekeeping. He told me that the people he lived with were slobs. And he wasn’t entirely wrong about that but still, I wasn’t immune to his interest shall we say.”

“I asked him why he’d want to give _me_ a job when he could advertise in the local paper. He told me that he had been watching me, which was unnerving, and that I was too good to be peddling my poisons for someone else to get the money. He wanted to see me out of that life for good.” He laughed suddenly. “And because I knew he was a wolf already, he didn’t have to pick and choose someone else who had discretion. I had that certainly, I worked for a drug dealer after all, but it was a shock to have it said so blatantly. And the wolf thing was right there in the open. He seemed to know I was reluctant to be a part of the gang, for some it’s a sign of honour? Yes, that’s accurate. They think it’s glamorous. Me, I just wanted to get by and there were not the opportunities for much else that would pay my way in the world.”

“So you took the job? Just trusted him and hoped for the best?”

“Not exactly.” Justin laughed a little. “I was wary, I hadn’t forgotten there was another guy wandering around somewhere and just because Wade hadn’t done anything to me then – well, he had pretty much forced me to go to his house with him. I told him I’d consider it, nothing more. And then I left.”  
  
“Seriously?” Ted looked rather surprised. “He just let you leave?”

Justin laughed out loud. “Who’d believe me if I told them what happened? I left and went off to my boss and handed over what I needed to. I did what I had to the next day, and the day after, but Wade and his offer never left my mind. I wasn’t convinced that he offered me a job out of the goodness of his heart but I wasn’t sure I cared too much. I won’t say I’ve never had offers but Wade… there was something different about him, apart from the obvious of course. Even then I was in the throes of puppy love or hero worship or something. I couldn’t get him off my mind, whether I was out breaking the law or home in my shitty one-room bedsit. Caution was one thing but my instincts were telling me I could trust him.” He hesitated. “And he watched over me still. I saw him once or twice and I knew there were other times he was watching me as well. I hated what I was doing, I could see the way it ruined lives and I knew that there wasn’t much else I could do to get by. There’s no magic way out of that situation, except I was offered one. So I decided to take it and it led me here, in the end. I never did any gardening at all until Wade saw that I was interested in it, when he let me play around in the garden at his house. And when I got good at it, he got me the gig here.”

Ted raised an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

“Hardly.” Justin tilted his head to one side with a rather impish smile. “You should know better than anyone that you can’t walk into a situation and expect to know what’s going on – although I’m not at all sure that you had _quite_ the same issues with everyone. I expect that you get on pretty well with everyone.”

Ted nodded. It was true after all, even if he didn’t always feel accepted.

“Not me. I had enough run-ins with this one guy Punk…he wasn’t willing to overlook my past at all. He was the one who called me a crackhead that first time. Meh, we got past it in the end, although it was ugly sometimes. It was hard to adjust really and not everyone made it easy. And of course, I was an employee at first, Wade’s uh, really shy about some things although you’d never know it to meet him. It was hard, but – well, I cared too much about Wade to not adjust. And even so, it’s taken a long time for me to consider being _all the way_ into the pack.”

Ted considered his words soberly. He was after all considering the same kind of thing, even if Cody had said he had no intention of changing Ted at all. He thought that Cody might change his tune when the full weight of the brevity of human life fully hit him, maybe when Ted first showed the signs of getting older. And although Ted hadn’t come to any kind of a decision, he was just vain enough to wonder if he’d really want to spend eternity with crow’s feet.

“How did _Wade_ feel about that?” he asked.

Justin shrugged. “He wasn’t entirely pleased. Werewolves are pretty much driven by their emotions rather than their heads, especially when it comes to that time of the month. There’s a lot of hiding who you are, a lot of secrets. A lot of _dangers._ But there are more than enough compensations to make up for it and I think there’s things he’d like to share with me that he can’t right now. Still, the change itself isn’t without danger.” He gave Ted a shrewd look. “And I’d imagine it’s even harder for vampires. They’re so much more restricted with not being able to go outside and having to find explanations why they never change or trying to find ways to fill the time when they’ve got hundreds of years to get bored in. I don’t think I’d like to be a vampire.”

“But what if Wade were a vampire instead of a werewolf?”

“I can’t say for sure, it’s a whole different set of considerations… but I think that I’d make the same decision.” Justin grinned suddenly. “Ted, there’s _time_! You’re still a young man and there’s no need to do anything at all until you’re a hundred per cent sure – and Mr Cody is too. It’s his decision too, unless Mr Randy decides to make it for him. And he won’t.”

~:~

Justin had given Ted a lot to think about and he spent much of the day going over what had been said and the thoughts it had evoked in him. He checked his phone too, not sure whether or not he was glad he’d remembered his charger – a few messages from people who sounded concerned they hadn’t heard from him but at the same time almost glad that he’d done something to get himself over Cody, or so they thought. They had all been telling him he needed a holiday or a break for a long time, to move house, to date, to _get over it_. Like he ever could. But they seemed to think this was some first step and weren’t getting on his back too much, although they all said they would like to hear from him soon, just so they knew he was okay.

Feeling rather guilty, Ted put the phone away without replying to any of them and had a quick meal before going back to the bedroom to wait for Cody to rise. He was trying to finish the book that he’d found in the library but it was hard going, not wholly interesting in many places and written in an overly formal, almost archaic style. But it was important to be informed and he lay on his stomach beside Cody, almost used to his lover’s stillness as he casually went through the pages. The trouble with the part he was at was that it was about a vampire’s biology and he was stuck on a rather dry and outdated account of a dissertation. He was also a little unnerved by the writer’s rant that it was damned hard to get a subject that one could actually dissect, with the species tending to disintegrate – it made him wonder just how he had gotten the information about the internal organs.

When Cody’s eyes opened, Ted was still trying to struggle through the book without his mind wandering but he soon realised that something had changed. He glanced over at Cody and grinned, gratefully putting the book aside and wrapping his arms around his lover.

“You’re cold,” he said without meaning to; was it rude to draw attention to the fact? But Cody _was_ cold, much more so than usual. “Should you feed?”

He felt the growl that went through Cody rather than heard it, but when the man spoke his voice was level. “Yeah, later. I’ll get something from the fridge in a bit, more important things first.”

His lips found Ted’s and for a moment they kissed, but then Cody pulled suddenly away. “Sorry babe,” he said sheepishly. “Guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

Ted hadn’t seen any sign that Cody was hungry but accepted it without question. “Let’s go down then and get something for you,” he said and then gave a rather teasing grin. “And then maybe we can come back up here and get into whatever you were intending.”

Cody chuckled, brushing some of Ted’s hair from his eyes and Ted noted again that Cody seemed cold, the way he always was when he hadn’t fed for a while. If his last meal had been from Ted’s neck then he wasn’t surprised and although Ted really wanted to offer his own blood again, Cody had been oddly reluctant to accept it too often. Still, Ted _really_ wished he could just offer Cody his vein… would he be testing Cody’s control to offer it?


	21. I Never Wanted To Hurt Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Circumstances force Chris to finally open up to Cody about possibly the darkest moment in his and Evan's relationship.

Walking alongside Ted to go downstairs, Cody was somewhat apprehensive when he realised that Ted seemed to be intent to follow him; he had rather been hoping that Ted might sit in the living-room and wait for him. Well, he supposed that he was going to have to get used to feeding in front of Ted eventually… especially when he had fed from Ted three times now. _Three times_. It seemed like a small and unnoticeable number, but to Cody each and every feeding was significant and imprinted in his mind. Moving to the fridge for the blood-bags Cody pulled the first one out and shook it slightly, moving faster this time.

So fast did he move, in fact, that Ted completely missed the blood being placed into the mug and the mug into the microwave, the last thing he registering was that the mug was going around in the microwave, heating up, obviously making it more edible for Cody. His nose twitched slightly; he might not have a super-sniffer like Cody did but even he could pick up the slight coppery scent of blood. It was gross, he couldn’t lie, but at least now being around it didn’t make his stomach roll the way that it once had. When the microwave pinged Cody sent Ted an almost apologetic look, pulling the mug out of the microwave and sipping from it.

Though Ted could hardly claim that he had seen Cody drinking from the mug often he could recall in the few incidents that he had seen that Cody had never _struggled_ with it as much as he seemed to be then. If Ted hadn’t of known better he would have thought that his lover was trying to force down liquidised snail or something like that; he seemed to be shuddering and swallowing rapidly but not getting any further with his drinking. And then, suddenly, Cody dropped the mug and flew to the sink, heaving and retching violently. It happened so suddenly that Ted could barely grasp what was happening, but when he did he was on his feet. “Cody!” he hastened to him, rubbing the vampire’s back and ignoring the weak attempts to stop him.

His lover was clutching the sink so hard that his fingers were leaving indents behind in it, still shuddering and heaving. Ted’s nostrils flared at the acid scent of vomit (though Cody had nothing but the blood to bring up, so that was somewhat confusing for him to consider) as well as the sickly scent of the blood. “Baby, easy, easy,” the blonde tried to soothe, though in reality he was more pleading with him. _What the hell was going on?_ When the sound of footsteps registered with Ted his head snapped up so hard his neck cracked, seeing Randy in the doorway, funnily enough, flanked by Chris. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t expected John to be with him.

“Cody—“he started despite knowing that it was probably _quite obvious_ what the problem was. When the other two vampires approached Ted couldn’t bring himself to move aside, his hands shaking even as they continued to rub Cody’s arm and back in a reassuring manner. “I had hoped this wouldn’t happen so soon,” Randy muttered, quite obviously to Chris but Ted heard it too. Chris looked solemn, “We should have expected it; he’s been pining for Ted for so long, and been holding off on his blood even longer, it’s only to be expected that---“Ted’s world seemed to shrink slightly, darkening around the edges: _were they saying that this was all his fault?_

Randy, much to Ted’s shock, suddenly lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down, the other hand then caressing Cody’s hair and cupping his neck in a manner that had Ted bristling with territoriality even though he knew that whatever Randy was doing was probably for Cody’s benefit, obviously. However that action was much too intimate for his liking; _that_ was the sort of hold that _he_ used on Cody when they were _together_ , and someone else touching him like that had him panicking right down to his very core. At first Cody resisted, but then his mouth latched onto Randy’s wrist and he weakly suckled from it, the younger man still shaking somewhat.

When he pulled back the tremors stopped but he looked… _ill_ , that was the only way Ted could think to describe it. And since Cody was _technically_ deceased it wasn’t exactly something he ever thought he would be considering. His eyes seemed almost bloodshot, much like when he’d been sick when he was human, and he was paler than he seemed even normally, as well as jerking slightly, as though he was panting for breath or trying to stop himself from being sick. A cold, choking feeling of dread settled in Ted’s stomach as he watched, his heart pounding and guilt filling him. As he reached for Ted though he felt someone’s hand resting on his shoulder.

The pale-faced blonde allowed himself to be propelled out of the kitchen by the concerned looking Christian, wondering when the other had even appeared in the kitchen. Of course, given what his ‘position’ was in the clan though it was probably obvious that he would have turned up. Though he was reluctant to leave Cody, Ted found at the same time that he couldn’t bring himself to fight Christian to stay with him. Besides, right then, possibly for the _first time_ in his memory since they had gotten together, Cody didn’t look as though he was even aware of his presence. Once they were out of the kitchen Christian directed him towards the couch.

“Ted, are you alright?” Christian asked in his gentle voice, and Ted nodded jerkily. When he felt his eyes stinging somewhat he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes in mortification; it’d not been as long as he might like to claim since he had last cried before someone, but this was different; he didn’t even know Christian that well and in this instance he didn’t _truly know_ whether he had done something wrong. He felt a hand patting his shoulder, a carefully controlled movement and smiled bitterly to himself. Any harder and Christian would probably have been able to cave his shoulder in or something along those lines.

 _He was so pathetic, wasn’t he? No matter how hard he tried or how much he learned he still seemed to not be any better than he had been before… if anything he seemed to get worse. He didn’t know what to do for Cody to help him, to make things easier for him---_ the sudden sound of hands clapping sharply in front of his face startled the tawny-haired man back into the present, blinking rapidly a few times as he looked at Christian. The Canadian smiled with mild apology in his expression, “Sorry… but I needed to do something to test your awareness. I was afraid for a moment that you might have fallen into shock.”

“No… No,” Ted shook his head, trying to convince himself as much as Christian that he was fine. “I don’t… I just…” he stammered somewhat, his mind still reeling with the mental images of Cody looking so pained as he threw-up into the sink. “What _happened_ in there?” he asked in a wretched whisper. The blonde kneeling before him on the carpet sighed gently, shaking his head slightly as he got up and perched himself beside the other instead. “Well… It wasn’t something we figured that we were going to need to bring up to you or Cody so soon,” he admitted. Yes, Ted had gathered that from what Chris had said back in the kitchen to Randy.

“Well, there’s something that can happen to our kind,” the doctor started, “-especially if one partner is human and the other isn’t, and there’s a high likelihood that those two would be mates with each other was one to be changed.” Ted’s eyes widened a little bit at that; though Cody had pretty much told him as much that he expected that they were mates regardless of their living/undead couple status, it was still different for someone else to acknowledge him like that instead. “It’s, well, the best way to explain it is an _intolerance_ , I suppose.” Ted cocked his head to one side in dazed puzzlement, not totally sure what Christian was getting at.

“Intolerance?” he repeated. That wasn’t a good word, especially not in the medical sense, and that was obviously what his lover’s ‘brother’ was getting at here. “Yes,” Christian said, “As you may have guessed the blood that we get from packets isn’t brilliant for those of us who are attached, it’s still something we need to keep ourselves topped up and not at the risk of hurting our mate by taking too much from them by mistake. And, well, as such, if we gain an… uh,” his brow furrowed somewhat, clearly struggling to explain, though whether it was struggling to explain in general or explain in terms the _poor human_ would understand he didn’t know.

“An addiction, I suppose, that’s the only word I can think of to make sense. If one of our kind becomes addicted to the blood of their human partner, or indeed their partner is they don’t balance it out with the packaged blood enough, then they become intolerant to packaged stuff. And, well, considering what’s just happened I have a feeling that Cody might be experiencing the first symptoms of packaged intolerance.” He looked apologetic and Ted felt his stomach drop further at the other’s explanation, head hanging. “So it _is_ my fault then?” he asked and he could feel Christian stilling in surprise next to him. “Who told you that, Ted?” he asked.

Vaguely the blonde waved a hand towards the kitchen where Cody, Randy or Chris had yet to emerge from. Christian hissed slightly in obvious irritation before then exhaling an irritated growl, shaking his head. “It’s _not_ your fault,” the other man said firmly, placing a hand on Ted’s arm and making him look up to meet his eyes, “It happens to _every_ couple liked I explained to you. Everyone goes through it, but the faster that addiction and intolerance… that varies person to person,” he tried to smile, obviously attempting to boost Ted’s spirits somewhat, “If I were you I’d take it as the compliment it is deep down that your blood’s so appealing.”

The smile slipped quickly though and Christian looked embarrassed, “Sorry,” he said but Ted shook his head and waved his embarrassment off; that was the sort of humour that they had after all, and the last thing he needed to do right now was to be seen as being prejudiced towards blood or their views or whatever… and it was a mark of how wound up he was that his thoughts were being so rambling and unfocused. The almost inaudible sound of the kitchen door opening gained Christian’s attention first, and Ted’s head followed his movement when he realised where the other was looking. His throat convulsed as he saw Cody standing there.

If he’d thought the other was suddenly going to be averse to him that wasn’t the case; Cody moved to him immediately and embraced him as tightly as he dared. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he apologised, mouth carefully directed away from Ted so that his breath wouldn’t put the other off, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Even though the sudden need to be sick had overwhelmed, and admittedly frightened Cody a little because he hadn’t known where it was coming from, what was causing it, he had been more concerned for Ted. He could hear the other’s heart hammering in his chest in concern, could all but _taste_ the adrenaline increase in his blood.

Pressing his face into Cody’s shoulder (he was much too conscious of Randy there, but Chris, for some reason, was the one he was more worried about then) Ted shook his head a little, murmuring, “You don’t need to apologise to me, Cody, it’s not needed.” He pulled back, taking a breath; his eyes were feeling a little watery again but if he let Cody see it then he knew that the other would go into one of his self-doubting periods and that was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want Cody upset over something that he had no control over and that hadn’t affected Ted. Well, it had, but Cody was the one most affected by it wasn’t he?

“Cody,” Randy’s voice suddenly cut across the moment and Ted tensed a little. Cody, however, merely kept his arms around Ted and turned his head enough to acknowledge his sire. The man still looked a bit paler than even usual standards, but he didn’t look as haggard and ill as he had not half an hour before. “Yeah?” Cody asked and Randy arched a brow slightly; clearly he had been expecting that the younger man would know what he wanted. Ted bit his lip slightly and then swallowed before easing his arms from around Cody. He doubted, for some reason, that he would be welcome involved in the talk that Randy wanted with his lover right then.

However, Cody merely pulled Ted up with him, obviously intending that Ted was going to be there with him. Randy seemed to have anticipated this and though he looked mildly annoyed for the moment he didn’t argue with them about it. As they headed out of the room Ted found himself glancing back towards Christian. The other man sent him what was seemingly a reassuring smile but Ted couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more going on than even the pseudo-doctor seemed to realise. They followed Randy out of the living-room and into a room on the other side of the main foyer, one that Ted hadn’t been in before.

~::~

When Evan appeared in the living-room to find his mate sitting in his usual armchair, unmoving and stoic and Christian watching the other like a hawk, as though expecting Chris was going to do something if he took his eyes off of him, Evan immediately knew that something was wrong. Actually, it was the deep sense of unsettled wariness from his mate that had had Evan waking just the tiniest bit earlier than his usual time… and though it might seem not much this was quite the occasion. Usually they couldn’t wake up until the sun went down, or unless they were in immediate danger, so the fact that Evan was five minutes ahead of schedule was unusual.

“Is everything alright?” he asked softly, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere almost even though he knew that the others would have sensed him coming from being upstairs. Chris looked at him and Evan stilled, cocking his head from side to side in an almost canine fashion before moving to his mate and perching atop Chris’ lap. Christian barely batted an eyelash at this behaviour; Evan was naturally tactile when it came to Chris anyway, and Chris was just as bad as him--- more so even since Evan had been ‘beaten up’ by Batista that night. “What are you feeling guilty about?” Evan asked, but for once Chris merely pressed his face into Evan’s neck, silent.

Glancing across to Christian, Evan asked, “What’s going on?” he had heard some commotion when he had first been stirring, but he was still struggling to adjust to everything when he first rose; their senses were essentially ‘attuning’ themselves when they first awoke and so they needed a bit of time to catch up with everything. “Well,” Christian sighed, leaning back on the couch somewhat, “We think that Cody might be intolerant.” The statement had Evan’s eyes widening even though to the casual outsider it’d probably seem too ambiguous to mean all that much. “Intolerant? Oh no…” suddenly the tension in the room seemed clear to him. As did Chris’ behaviour.

~:~

“I should’ve warned Cody,” said Chris, sounding angry with himself. “I should have seen the signs!”

“Hey, no one was expecting the signs this soon.” Christian leant back in his seat and drummed his fingers against the arm of the chair. “And how the hell do you broach something like that? I thought we had plenty of time before something like this happened. Since when is it this fast to develop this? How long was it with you?”

Chris considered, giving Evan a rather guilty glance. “It was at least six months from the first time I fed from Ev, maybe even a bit longer. And I didn’t think much of it for a long time.” He frowned. “Did you ever get it?”

“Nope. My mate was already a vampire, remember? I never needed to consider where my main source was coming from. And I was turned pretty unexpectedly so it’s not like we really got time to test it, but I don’t think that Adam did either. We know Randy never has and it doesn’t seem like John ever did either – Hunter and Shawn never talk about that kinda stuff so I don’t know with them.”

“So why is it happening to Cody _now_?” asked Evan, sounding a little upset and taking hold of Chris’s hand.

“I don’t know, though I do have some theories.” Christian brightened a little as he considered them – from a purely academic viewpoint, it was an interesting topic, to him at least. “From what we’ve seen and read, intolerance seems to stem purely from the need for a mates blood – whether that’s emotional or physical or mystic, it’s not really important. It’s there. Chris, it wasn’t like you could feed from Evan anytime you wanted to back then. So you were obviously affected by the intolerance, the same way that any of us might be if we were separated from our mates for a time. Probably we’re _all_ intolerant, we just haven’t noticed because we’re never without one another’s blood for long. We don’t need to be and when our bodies tell us it wants, we can just take. Except that humans just aren’t _designed_ to lose too much blood. They don’t function very well when they do – you know that Ev, it makes you tired and confused and slow to react.”

Evan nodded. “Yeah, but none of that helps when it comes to Ted and Cody.”

“They already had the mate bond,” Christian pointed out patiently. “Even before Cody was turned and don’t think of telling me any different.” Neither one would have dreamed of doing, but both Chris and Evan remained silent, not really wanting to go into the delicacies of whatever happened with Cody and Ted as humans. “They couldn’t bond like we can, but they were mates. So perhaps it really _had_ taken Cody a while before he became intolerant, but because Ted’s not been here it hasn’t been an issue.”

“And what, Ted’s being here is just a coincidence?”

“No, that’s too much.” Christian mulled it over. “I think it’s since Cody’s fed from him. His body _knows_ the food source, it didn’t before. And remember, not only is Cody very recently turned in the grand scheme of things, he’s also never fed from anyone except Randy until Ted showed up here. I think it’s any number of things that might have contributed.”

There was a moments silence, then Chris frowned. “It doesn’t really matter why or how, does it? The situation is what it is. And I suppose I’d better have a talk with the kid.”

Christian looked concerned. “Well, Randy’s talking to him right now and you know how he feels about being interrupted—“

“I can get around Randy,” Chris cut in, shooting Evan a quick look. Through their bond, the youngest vampire could feel his lovers guilt and wished there was something he could do about it – no matter how much he reassured Chris he had no reason to feel that way, he couldn’t seem to remove the emotion. But he remained silent; it really wasn’t the time to tell Chris that _he_ had no regrets and there was no need for this misplaced guilt. Even with their bond, Chris was likely to think he was exaggerating about having _no_ regrets.

He didn’t go chasing off after Chris though; he knew his own experience was only likely to complicate a situation that had already gone a long way beyond complicated already.

~:~

“Intolerant.” Ted’s voice was completely flat and he held Cody’s hand so tightly that had he still been human he might have squeaked a protest at the grip. “Like, a food intolerance, an allergy?”

“A little like that.” Randy rubbed the back of his neck feeling awkward; who would have known that he’d have to have this conversation so soon? But the situation was what it was and he should have seen it coming. With one thing and another, with bonding with John and all the business with Dave, he hadn’t been able to give Cody’s new situation with his mate the attention it deserved and now he was paying for it. He probably should have told Cody all this _before_ he had allowed him out alone but he simply hadn’t had the heart for it. Cody had kept hope alive for one reason, that he might someday be reunited with Ted and Randy didn’t want to pick a hole in the plan that wasn’t an immediate danger to Ted’s safety.

“You might be able to keep drinking what’s in the fridge, if you can manage to keep it down,” he said briskly but without much hope. They had tried that once before, hadn’t they? It hadn’t worked then either. “It won’t be too pleasant but it’s better than starving…” He didn’t add that Cody _wouldn’t_ starve. No vampire ever had when there was an available food source around. The day would come when Cody, too hungry to even think straight, would simply give in to instinct and take what he needed. And if Ted wasn’t around, it would be some other source that probably wouldn’t even help matters. If Cody went schitz and jumped the wall, they would have _real_ trouble, hunger would wipe away his rationale and leave him all but feral, with little chance of getting through to him until the hunger had been slaked.

“Wait.” Ted raised a hand, a frown on his face, glancing at Cody – it broke his heart and brought back unpleasant memories to see his lover so pale. His mind tried to slip back to the night in the morgue when he had identified Cody’s body and seen him dead… and _that_ thought would do more harm than good right then, so he tried to push it away. “There’s no need for him to suffer or anything. Why can’t he just feed from me? I can take a little light-headedness.”

“Ted,” Randy said, almost gently. “You don’t have enough. If Cody took from you what we take from our mates, you’d be dead within a week.”  
  
Cody visibly cringed.

“You can’t replace blood by taking it in, unless we rig up some kind of transfusion system and I don’t think even Christian would feel comfortable with that. And it’s no solution, that’d leave you weakened as well. That’s no kind of life for anyone, tied to some bed, too weak to move, being milked for blood…”

“I get the picture,” interrupted Ted through numb lips. “So, can’t we kinda… do half and half or something?”

“Hasn’t Cody been feeding from you already?” Randy countered.

“Not enough, obviously.”

“He can’t safely take any more—“

“He’ll have to and we can work out—“

“Guys.” Cody really didn’t want his sire and his lover fighting. Randy didn’t take well to mutiny and Ted was a stubborn bastard when he got going. “This isn’t helping. Teddy, we already established that you can’t give any more than you already did. I’ll just have to get used to feeling a bit shitty for a while.”

Ted scowled, pouting, clearly deep in thought. “Well, the reason that everyone else can give their lovers what they need is because they’re vampires, right? So—“

“Teddy!”

“Codes, what happens if you feel like this indefinitely? If you never get over this intolerance, if you get _worse_? We _need_ to consider—“

“This isn’t something you can just decide on a whim Teddy!”

“I’ve been thinking about nothing else for _days_!”

“Ted—“ Cody’s voice broke and he took a moment to compose himself. “This isn’t why I wanted you back with me. Not to force you into something you can’t go back on…”

Ted silenced Cody with a look, brushing Cody’s cheek gently. “I know baby,” he said quietly. “But this is my doing. I’m the one who asked you to feed from me, I pushed you when you told me it wasn’t safe. I just didn’t realise it wasn’t safe for you either…” Cody tried to say something and Ted shushed him. “…And you know I’d do anything for you. _Anything_. You know I won’t be able to bear you fading like this.”

“We don’t know that this won’t just wear off once I get used to—“

“We know exactly what’s going to happen,” said a voice from the doorway, making Ted and Cody both turn in surprise – Ted hadn’t heard a thing and Cody had been too caught up to realise there was someone approaching. Chris was leaning against the door frame, his expression grim. “And there’s only so far that denial can take us.” There was a look between him and Randy, sire to childe, asking for permission and having it granted without a word passing between them. “Cody, come for a walk with me.”

Cody opened his mouth to protest – the last thing he wanted was to be separated from Ted. He was scared of what Ted might do for his sake without him there and maybe a little scared that the clan would take the choice out of their hands… but that was foolish, he was sure that Ted was safe with Randy no matter what. He didn’t understand why Chris of all people would want to talk to him, but rather than protest he nodded slowly, leaning over to kiss Ted before heading off with Chris, leaving Ted to Randy’s mercy. He just hoped that Randy could tell Ted the home truths that the man wouldn’t listen to when they were coming from his lover.

Chris led him outside without a word and the two of them started a walk around the gardens. Cody usually enjoyed the fresh air, having been confined to the house for so long it was nice to be outside, even if it was in the gardens with a chaperone. It reminded him of the times he had been making himself safe for his lover and that brought back the aching _need_ to be in Ted’s arms again. He was afraid, that was the truth of it. Scared of what was going to happen to him… _and_ to Ted. He had a childish but almost overwhelming urge to run back inside, throw himself into Ted’s arms and have his lover tell him that everything was going to be okay. Except that everything was _not_ going to be okay, and if he did something like that recklessly, he could harm Ted.

Suddenly, he almost wished Randy had just let him die, let Ted get on with the business of living. Only Ted _hadn’t_ gotten on with living. He had been fading himself, just waiting for the day he could give up on life.

“Is this gonna take long Chris?” he asked, aware that he sounded abrupt and not caring. “I need to get back to Ted.”

“Yeah, I know.” Chris looked out over the gardens that he had never seen by the light of the sun. “I’ve been there. I suppose now I get that we shouldn’t have hid it from you…”

Cody stared at him but Chris wouldn’t meet his eyes. “What? What were you keeping from me?”

“At the time, I figured it wasn’t any of your business and Randy thought it might adversely affect you, you still weren’t safe to be around humans and you were trying so hard – we didn’t want anything to get in the way of that. I didn’t realise that you’d end up just the same.” Chris turned his head to look at Cody. “I’m intolerant too. I found out a few months ago, when Evan was still human. He just couldn’t recover enough to give me the amount of blood I needed between feedings.”

Cody was silent for a moment and when he spoke, his voice was confused. “I don’t remember you getting sick.”

“I hid it.” Chris shrugged. “No one mentioned it because no one knew about it, Evan didn’t always watch me get the blood from the fridge and I got pretty good at hiding that I was hurling it all back down the sink.” He chuckled suddenly. “Amazing how it all comes back. I was pretty good at hiding that shit when I was human and putting on a show. Couldn’t hide how shitty I looked though and how damned hard it was to hold anything down… and how hard it was to see Ev and not just tear his throat out and _drink_.”  
  
Cody stared. Given how Chris and Evan were together, it was hard for him to imagine Chris _ever_ feeling that way.

“Evan knew something was wrong but I managed to tell him some lie about some vampire thing I made up on the spot. He kept digging, didn’t believe me and then Randy realised something was up. I got busted one night when I woke, I knew Evvie was outside and I was _starving_. I’ve never felt hunger like it in my life, or death. I went to the kitchen, just about emptied the damned fridge, there was no one else around and I was too far gone to sense where they all were. I guzzled about three packets, cold, spilled them all over trying to get them into my mouth. I don’t know… it was like I was out of control of myself. I haven’t felt like that since I was first changed and that’s not even right. It was a bit like that but worse. I was trying to get the damned blood down my neck, my hands were shaking so much I was making a hell of a mess and I was _still_ starving. I could hear myself growling and I started pulling _more_ blood out of the fridge, only before I could tear the packet open I dropped it. It exploded all over the floor and a second later I projectile puked all over the counter. I think I was aiming for the sink but I – this is hard for me to say Codes. I don’t like admitting any of this.”

“Just take your time Chris,” said Cody quietly, wondering if he should tell Chris that there was no need to continue his story. But he wanted to hear the rest. Everything Chris said was striking a chord with him – was this the end result? If Ted saw anything like that, he’d be terrified. Cody _needed_ to know what he had to look forward to.

“I was beyond any kind of niceties,” said Chris slowly, walking at an easy stroll with Cody still by his side. “Puking hurt. It was like I wasn’t just emptying my stomach, like when I was human and I drank or smoked too much the night before. It was like expelling my blood as well. Cramps went all the way through me, I grabbed the counter to stop myself falling over and got myself covered in the blood I just spewed outta my mouth. Good thing we don’t eat or I probably would’ve crapped my pants as well. It was just – pain and need and there wasn’t anything left in my head except for a need to _make it stop_.”

He kicked at a stone, hands shoved in his pockets before he looked up at the sky. The moon was full and Cody had the fleeting thought that Wade would be abroad that night, off with his pack and hopefully having a lot less problems than the clan were that night.

“Randy sensed my uh, distress through the bond – it’s not like being bonded but when he knows. I can’t compare it because I’m bonded to my childe.” He smiled, but Cody thought it was slightly bitter.

“He came racing for the kitchen, by which time I’d just about finished blowing chunks of blood all over the kitchen – it looked like a slaughterhouse, like someone had been murdered and he just stopped. I can see the look on his face now but at the time I didn’t even notice it. The cramps had stopped but I felt weak and shaky. And hungry. That more than anything else, _hungry_. It was like being taken over by instinct. I didn’t even recognise that Randy was my friend or my sire, he was just _there_ , like the table or something. Background. I knew what I wanted and where it was and that I _had_ to get it. And then Ev walked into the kitchen.”

There was a long pause and although Cody wanted to ask what happened next, he stayed quiet. Chris seemed to be struggling and he was afraid that the wrong words would shut him up entirely.

“He screamed my name and I’ve never heard him sound so _shocked_. So _scared_. I realise _now_ that he thought something had happened to me, something bad, and I suppose it had although not what he thought it was. He ducked past Randy and headed toward me…”

There was more silence and then Chris spoke again, his words sounding almost forced out. “I didn’t see Ev, the man I love, my mate. I didn’t see the look on his face. I saw what I wanted. I saw my _need_ , coming toward me and I didn’t think about it for a second. There wasn’t anything coherent in my mind at all, there was just – just my body acting completely on instinct. I went for him, with my fangs out, intending to rip out his throat.”

“Holy _shit_!” Cody hadn’t meant to speak but the words just slipped out. He couldn’t imagine Chris harming Evan, not ever. He couldn’t even see the man thinking it. The image just didn’t sit right in his head, didn’t seem like reality.

Chris gave a little snort that might have been laughter. “Yeah.” He went quiet again, then continued. “Randy saved Evan that night. You know how humans move, like they’re in slow motion? I was moving at top speed and Randy intercepted me, grabbed me and hauled me back into the kitchen. I snarled at him, fought, tried to bite him. You know how we have that venom? I was going for that but he was bright enough to keep himself as far from my mouth as he could. And he was secondary, I’d only bite him to get him off me. I wanted Evan.”

He rubbed a hand through his hair. “It was the first time Ev saw that side of us. The wild, bestial side that we hide under a layer of control and imitating humanity. I don’t know what he thought when he realised I was trying to get at him, saw me the way I was – snarling, blazing eyes, covered in blood and Randy trying and almost failing to keep my away from him. I imagine he was scared out of his mind.”

“Randy yelled for the others, giving a command that even I felt, although it was easy to shake off with Evan in my sights. And then he yells, _Evan, run_ , like his life depended on it. It might well have done, but Evan stayed right where he was up until the others showed up and Christian dragged him out. He saw that I wasn’t gonna calm down while Evan was still right there. I could hear him shouting for me a couple of minutes and then he went quiet – and by that time Hunter and Shawn managed to pin me to the floor while Randy was doing his sire thing at me. I’m pretty sure I scared the crap outta him that night. He’d never seen it with any of the others.”

“So what happened?” asked Cody, almost timidly, trying to imagine himself in that same situation, Ted in Evan’s place. Ted would refuse to leave as well, he knew.

Chris shrugged. “He got me calmed eventually, but it was tenuous – I could hear Evan’s heartbeat and it was driving me crazy. Shawn got told to take care of you, take you out of the house for the rest of the night – remember that? And Adam eventually took Evan off somewhere, not that he wanted to go. But he had to get out of the house to get any kind of sense out of me and to make sure – make sure he was safe. From me. Christian worked it out in the end, he’s been through some of those old books and said he’d read something similar, only that was from a vamp who’s mate was taken into captivity, back in the really old days. And then we had a problem.”

“Evan couldn’t feed you enough,” said Cody, slowly, realising what that meant. “And without it…”

“I could barely hold anything down. I was starving and going feral. I was a danger to him.” Chris looked down at his feet again. “I got some kind of sense of – myself, I guess, after Randy fed me himself. I wanted to apologise but I was afraid that if I saw him again, I’d attack. I never wanted to hurt him Cody, not ever.”

“I know that Chris.”

“I figured I’d have to walk into the sun—“

_“What?”_

Chris glanced sideways at Cody. “I was afraid that I might harm him. And if I went feral, who’s to say I wouldn’t hunt him down, no matter where he hid from me? Better to protect him, even if it was protecting him from me. Only it didn’t do it because when Evan came back and Christian laid down what was up with me, he told Randy he was going to change. Whether Randy did it or I did, or he had to go provoke you or find another clan, he was going to be changed and no one could stop him. He was going to do it to save me.”

Cody was quiet for a moment. “And you did it? Changed him?”

“Yeah.” Chris kicked at the ground again. “Maybe it was selfish. But he _wanted_ it. He’d talked about it before, he was hurt when I said it wasn’t necessary to change him, he needed to live a life first. I’m not sorry I was changed or anything but I damned well enjoyed a lot of years of life before that and Evan barely had any chance to do that. I wanted that for him, without the struggle he’d been going through to keep his bills paid. But we ran out of time and choices. He came to me just before dawn, when I was about to crash out and Randy had done some pretty serious control over me. I wasn’t so hungry because I’d managed to keep down what I got from Randy but it was a poor substitute for Evan. Really poor, but don’t tell him I said that. I was weak and more or less in control and so damned contrite – I thought I didn’t deserve his forgiveness for what I did to him. When I heard his heart and then he walked in I had myself in check but even then, it was so hard not to just _take_. I was lying on the bed my then, I’d been cleaned up but I still looked like seven shades of shit. And a part of me thought I was hallucinating him there.”

He gave a humourless chuckle. “It was right before dawn and age or not, I was too weak and tired to stay conscious. Unless Ev was going to tell me he was gone and then I wouldn’t have the choice, I’d have to keep my eyes open long enough to see the sun for the last time. Otherwise I would have gone after him. It’s how we work Cody, always has been. Only he didn’t say that. He got on the bed, put his head on my chest and told me he was going to spend a day in the garden. Then when I woke up, he’d be there waiting for me to feed from him. And he expected me to take every last drop.”

“And that’s what you did?”

“That’s what I did. When I came around that night, Evan was lying next to me wide awake and he smelled like the outside, like sun and rain. And I killed him. Just like he asked, I fed from him so much that his heart stopped. But before it did, I made him feed from me. I wasn’t in a frenzy then. It was… calm. Intimate, powerful. I don’t know, I can’t explain it. I don’t feel like I should even try.”

“I don’t want to turn Ted,” Cody whispered.

Chris stopped walking, looked at Cody seriously. “Who said he’d give you a choice?” he asked. “Cody, the humans we fall in love with – we do all we can to protect them. We know how fragile they are compared to us and how easy it would be to break them. But in the end, it’s them who hold our existence in the palms of their hands.” He quirked his lips into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “It’s ironic when you think about it.”

“I won’t tell him,” said Cody determinedly. “He doesn’t have to know any of this.”

“You think he won’t pick up on it?” Chris raised his eyebrows. “Then you’re underestimating him. He knows already that you’re intolerant to anyone else’s blood. You don’t think his mind’s gonna take him down the road that leads to? He’ll work it out. You don’t feed, you die. He might not know the rest, but he’ll have that one all figured. And what he has to do to stop it.”

“But I don’t have to drink from him,” said Cody with a lot less determination. He already knew that Chris was a lot more strong willed than he was and he certainly hadn’t been able to say no.

“Instinct Cody. You can think that you won’t do it, you’d rather starve, but the body fights for survival.”

Cody tried to think of another argument, couldn’t. He hung his head instead. “How long was it? From when you started getting ill ‘til when you, uh…”

Chris shrugged. “I started having trouble with feeding, began sicking it back up maybe a week after that. Maybe a week? Not much more.”

Cody gave a short, barking laugh. “Y’know, whenever Ted brought up the topic of the future, how he’d age while I didn’t, I kept telling him we had plenty of time to come to terms with it. There was no need to rush into anything.” He smirked. “I guess we’ve run out of time.”


	22. Regret Never Gets Easier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clan separate for the moment as Cody and Ted face their hardest choice yet

Chris reached a hand out and squeezed Cody’s shoulder in a gesture that was somewhat paternal in its originator’s experience and sympathetic all at once. Cody placed his hands over his face and rubbed agitatedly, as though trying to fight off signs of weariness even though in reality it had been a long time since he had been physically wary. Emotionally and mental he’d been through the ringer and back since his murder and separation from Ted, and then again when he became a couple with Ted once more… and this situation wasn’t helping that at all. Lowering his hands again Cody sent Chris a bitter imitation of his usual smile, “Well, of all the ways I’d thought Ted and I would broach this… this wasn’t it,” he sighed.

Spreading his hands in a vague gesture Chris’ expression told Cody more than any words could. _He hadn’t thought it would happen like it had happened either, or indeed hadn’t even considered it at all._ It seemed, despite the terms of mating and bonding and other such connections for their kind, that there weren’t that many situations where one was changed in a pleasant, consensual situation. That suddenly had Cody thinking of something that he’d never really asked about before, and he took a moment to compose himself. Though it was a process he had been through himself Cody couldn’t really _remember_ his change period.

It hadn’t exactly _bothered him_ per se because it was a traumatic experience he was sure, regardless of Randy’s efforts to make said transition as easy as possible, but now, suddenly, that hazy, dark gap in his memory was bothering him _a lot_. “Chris…” Cody looked up at the blonde vampire and he cocked his head in silent query. Time may not seem too great when you looked at how long they had really known one another, but Cody knew Chris enough to know that the other felt guilty for not forewarning him of this even though there wasn’t anything more he could have done really given how the situation had played itself out.

And as such that guilt was going to make Chris a lot more open about answering questions than he might otherwise be; an extravagant rock-legend he might once have been, but when Chris wanted to be close-lipped then he would be. “Do you remember your change?” Cody asked after a moment’s hesitation and Chris looked confused, brow furrowing. Realising that he probably hadn’t explained well enough Cody held up a hand to forestall the other’s answer and took a moment to reformulate his question. “Do you remember what it felt like immediately _during_ the change, not the aftermath or what led up to the event; I mean it happening itself.”

This time Chris’ answer was an undeniable and somewhat disheartening shake of the head. “I don’t remember,” Chris said. “I think Christian once said it’s the last defence mechanism of our human selves, because it’s not a painless procedure.” That much they had managed to garner on the occasions where they had actually been there to witness someone changing. “To forget, I mean,” he elaborated, rather unnecessarily Cody felt but he knew that Chris wasn’t attempting to insult his intelligence. “Fuck,” Cody said without really thinking as he let the swear fall from his lip in a violent if quiet _shot_ like as though releasing a verbal bullet.

“Are you asking because of why I _think_ you’re asking me?” the other murmured softly and Cody pressed his fist to his mouth a little uncertainly, a contemplative expression causing his usually smooth face to line momentarily in the slightest, just-noticeable way to the human eye. “Probably,” the younger vampire conceded quietly as he moved his hand away from his mouth and straightened up. After all, he knew exactly what Ted was going to say if he was confronted with all of the facts: he would do exactly as Evan did, sacrifice himself for his sake without a second thought even though he had other things to live for. Or just… exist for the sake of.

“It’s not an easy decision, Cody,” their gazes met and Cody got a glimpse of what he swore was Chris’ tortured soul in his eyes, “And no matter what happens you’ll hate yourself for it for a long time after. But, you need to consider it like this: would you really be OK knowing that Ted’s change was caused by another, especially if that meant that the person changing Ted would have a level of power over him you’d never even consider?” he hoped he was making his point; the idea of Randy changing Evan for example could have probably been better for Evan on some level, but at the same time actually following that thought had made his very core rebel.

When Cody turned away from him with an unreadable expression on the part of his face that Chris could still see, the other glanced back towards the house. They had been outside long enough and he swore he could _taste_ Ted’s anxiety, wanting Cody back inside with him. And Ted wasn’t the only one who seemed upset of keyed up; his own mate’s emotions appeared to be even more like a rollercoaster than usual. “Let’s go back inside,” Chris said, though it was more of a pointed suggestion than a light question. Nodding slowly Cody allowed himself to be steered back towards the house by his companion, mind working overtime.

~::~

Meanwhile, inside of the kitchen, as Chris and Cody conversed, Ted found himself still looking at Randy. The man who had given him a second chance with Cody, at the bare bones of the facts, was sitting before him, an unreadable expression on his face, and Ted had the strongest, most overwhelming urge to apologise… the fact that he had been assured that it wasn’t his fault that this had happened he was still quite set in his own mind that it _was_ completely his fault. When he opened his mouth though it wasn’t his own voice he heard coming from it, and neither was it that of the sire of his fiancé. It was Evan in the doorway.

“They never take it well, you know,” he looked sad, reminiscent and apologetic all in one and before Ted could even begin to consider what this might mean Evan was standing up and moving to Chris. The special boundaries of the vampires seemed the same as it always did when they were dealing with one another in serious matters--- but Ted noticed significantly that Randy didn’t seem as tactile with Evan as he was with the others. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t _care_ for Evan as much as he did the others, but more like… something was _preventing_ him from taking such liberties freely upon Evan’s person. He didn’t know why that would be though.

“Evan,” Randy’s voice was low, so low that Ted couldn’t tell what was being said but the tension in the vampire sire’s posture told him more than enough about what vain (and wasn’t _that_ an uncomfortable turn of phrase in present circumstances?) the conversation was currently running on. Their exchange was brief, if somewhat fiery, but then Randy reluctantly stepped back. He didn’t leave the room entirely and Ted once again found himself wondering whether it was because of his status within the clan or whether he felt that he was to be the one who needed to be there to protect Ted just in case Evan slipped somehow and attempted to attack him.

Turning his attention back to the smallest man in the room Ted then swallowed and licked his lips before composing himself momentarily, “Evan, what’s going on?” sufficient and explanatory though Christian’s attempt to enlighten him was he had used that clinical, not-personally-experienced tone that Ted understood the magnitude of the words given to him, or what he’d seen, but at the same time something in his emotions had yet to truly click with the situation. “What do you know about…” he hesitated momentarily, “About this intolerance?” he finally finished and Evan sighed softly before tucking his legs underneath himself neatly.

“I know quite a bit… I was the cause of it once.” The words were simple, purely stated fact, and yet the shock of it his Ted in the stomach with the same force of a squarely aimed _one-two_ and it took all he had not to double-over as though he had been genuinely, physically struck. “You?” the blonde whispered and Evan’s smile gained a new level of sadness compared to that which was present before. “Yeah,” Evan said before running a hand through his hair and then biting agitatedly at his thumb-tip automatically, a gesture of contemplation Ted surmised. “You remember when you asked me about what had caused my change?”

“Well, I guess there’s no sense in hiding it from you now,” the dark haired vampire sighed and Ted leant forward in his seat subconsciously, preparing to receive some deeply imparted knowledge. Or, at least, that was how it looked to Randy anyway. “I was the active reason I was changed. However, the catalyst which further snowballed on the issue between Chris and I, was the fact that he developed intolerance thanks to my blood. To cut a long story short—“it was grizzly enough as it was and he didn’t like lingering on the memories of that time because he knew how much it upset Chris, and it upset him too because Chris was _still_ so hurt by it.

“—Chris hid the fact that he had become intolerant to packaged blood as his main food-source and he made an attempt to attack me because I _was_ what he wanted as his food-source. He didn’t get me,” he said hastily when Ted blanched at an alarming rate, the understandable shock at first blush apparently being too much for him. Before Randy could step in, to attempt to forbid Evan from going further in his explanation right then, or to make Ted forget any of this had ever happened, Ted was the one who whispered, “What happened then?” The question seemed to hang in the air and Evan felt a shiver just from the sudden atmosphere with it.

“Chris was calmed down by Randy and the other’s, and he wanted to kill himself rather than live with the guilt of what he’d done, didn’t expect I’d forgive him. But of course I did; I was as much in the wrong for this as Chris was—“Randy snorted lightly and Evan shot him a look that Ted had sussed by now as being quite bold given their age and status difference in the clan, and the sire actually looked away and became completely still and silent once more, a living-statue for the amount that he moved. Even in his somewhat addled state Ted found it rather unnerving to witness first-hand just how little vampires had to move, even when awake.

“I hadn’t _noticed_ ,” and this time Evan was the one who sounded guilty. “I hadn’t noticed that anything was wrong with him, and I should have.” He looked the epitome of hang-dog right then and Ted felt sorry for him; especially since he could sympathise. How long had it been since Cody had first begun feeling like this since he had fed from him? He had absolutely no idea, and that meant he could have just as easily overlooked signs that he _should_ have seen. “But, well, in the end I made my choice. Chris was the one to kill me, to turn me, and I don’t regret it.” He moved closer to Ted then, placing a hand with extreme care on Ted’s own.

If he had put his hand down on what would have been a normal force for him to touch Chris he probably would have shattered all of the bones in Ted’s hand, flattened it _and_ put it through the table. “I don’t regret the life I’ve chosen for myself,” he ignored the obvious irony there, “I love Chris, and from the start I _knew_ I was going to change for him… the fact that that happened sooner rather than later didn’t change anything for me—“his softened expression then became hard, probably the hardest expression that he’d ever seen on the cheery young man’s face, “But _you_ need to be sure. Because I made the choice… no one can tell you to.”

Ted scrubbed a hand over his face, resting his head on his other hand momentarily, feeling the pounding of a headache coming on. This was so… Well, it seemed the obvious choice to him. “If it would save Cody,” Ted said slowly, taking a deep breath, but his tone was determined even as he spoke, “Then I’d do it in a heartbeat. I… I know he wouldn’t want me to, but fuck—“Ted didn’t even notice as the curse left his lips, completely oblivious also to the fact that Cody and Chris were in the doorway, Cody hesitating and with his eyes completely fixed on the back of Ted’s head. “—I had to try life without him _once_ ; never again.”

Cody’s expression softened, but there was clear confliction in his eyes at Ted’s words. Clearly he didn’t want to make Ted choose between his family and his humanity for his sake, but it seemed as though he wasn’t going to actually _have_ much of a say in the matter; it sounded as though Ted had already made his mind up about it. Ted remained clueless it seemed, but Evan looked directly first into Cody’s eyes, and then his mate’s, and then back to Ted. “What if Cody wouldn’t be the one to change you?” he asked. The question made Ted pause; it had already been glaringly apparent that Cody wasn’t inclined to fulfil this wish for him.

Looking at Randy, Ted found himself almost laughing despite the seriousness of the situation because the sire looked so surprised to be being the one he picked. “Well,” Ted said, reasoning the unspoken question he could sense coming from both men, “You’ve done it before, and you’re in control of such things…” he then paused and considered, “Though I could always ask John if you won’t do it.” Despite the small technicality of owing Randy quite a lot by proxy, there was still something about the man that made Ted quite _reluctant_ about trying himself to Randy in such a profound connection. “Of course, I would rather it was Cody,” the blonde admitted.

Instead of answering Ted directly Evan then looked over his shoulder and said seriously, “I hope you were listening to that.” Immediately Ted whipped around, blanching somewhat when he realised Cody was there. How much had he heard? From the look on his face he had heard enough. “I—“he started but Cody merely shook his head and smiled weakly, “It’s OK.” When he physically hesitated moving towards him again Ted was the one who took the initiative again and moved to his lover, wrapping his arms tight around Cody’s neck and squeezing him in a firm embrace. Cody’s arms went around Ted protectively, the gesture having a slight desperation to it.

Randy nodded to Chris and the other nodded back, but he still looked horribly nostalgic and Evan hated that old haunted look in his eyes. Even if they lived to be a thousand-year-old couple (and that was something Evan fully intended; he had planned no walks into the sun any time soon) he knew that Chris was never going to forgive himself for that _one_ night’s almost slip. The fact that he hadn’t actually gotten to him didn’t make no never-mind to Chris, the fact that he had even _contemplated_ harming him in some manner was enough to break Chris emotionally whenever he thought about it or whenever it was brought up even vaguely.

As Cody and Ted continued to embrace against the side of the kitchen Evan moved around them, taking Chris’ hand and leading his unresisting mate out of the kitchen with a nod to Randy. The sire hesitated only moments before following their lead and leaving Ted and Cody alone. He knew his child had no intention of biting his mate and that was enough reassurance for him. He didn’t go far though, just in case something _did_ change. He had _just_ made it once, and unlike the first time around if he was too late (even if they managed to be in time to make Ted change instead of just passing on) then Cody would never be able to live with the knowledge.

And Cody walking into the sun and leaving Ted behind would be just as bad as Ted just passing on because the end result would be the same: _they would lose them both._ He may not have known Ted long, and the blonde might not be one of his children, but he cared about Cody and he had begun to care about Ted as though he _were_ as good as a member of their clan, just like he had grown used to and accepting of Evan back when he had been human. John was waiting for him in the living room and Randy gratefully moved into his embrace, pressing his face into John’s neck in a silent gesture of affecting and needing affection in return.

John’s arms wrapped around Randy, one stroking the back of his mate’s neck as the other rubbed his back. They remained stood there a few moments before John spoke voice so low that even Randy would have missed it had he been as focused on his thoughts as he had been back in the kitchen. “Evan and Chris have gone back upstairs, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again tonight.” Randy had expected as much but he nodded in thanks of the report from his mate and sire anyway. “How’re Ted and Cody?” John then added and Randy sighed slightly before shaking his head, “I think they’ve both finally realised just how important a decision they have to make.” John’s expression softened, concerned for his mate and the two younger men.

“Never gets any easier, does it?” he asked Randy, knowing how much stress his mate went through when this situation occurred, even though it was only the second time it had happened out of all of the conflicting stories that their little group possessed. “No,” Randy murmured, grimacing slightly as he recalled the look on Cody’s face when Ted had said that he would ask either of them to change him if Cody would refuse to do it, “And I think I’m getting too old for all of the drama.” Despite himself John snorted; after all, Randy had barely been any age when he died, and even in vampire terms he was an infant compared to him. He’d never be too old.

“I think everyone’ll be keeping to themselves tonight,” John murmured, “What say we follow suit?” he rubbed Randy’s neck soothingly, “If something happens we’ll know about it, and until then we could do with a little calm-down time as well.” The tone of John’s voice held a mild suggestion to it and Randy may have been pissed-off about this on principle were it not for the fact that he knew John was only doing this for his benefit, and that he did need some time to calm down. “We can choose our new bed,” John coaxed and Randy’s lips turned up into a small smile, nodding his head as he allowed John to lead him upstairs back to their bedroom for a while.

~::~

Closing the door behind him, Evan pushed Chris in the chest hard enough to send his mate careening back a few steps to the edge of their bed, sitting down on the end to prevent himself flopping gracelessly across it. Of course, deep down, both of them knew Evan had only been able to move Chris that much with the action because the blonde had allowed it. He was older than Evan after all, and his sire, meaning that technically he had double the power-advantage over him. Or at least he would if he ever bothered to utilise the full effect of both things. Chris looked across to Evan as his mate took slow, measured steps towards him, then straddling him lightly.

“You told Ted,” Chris stated, Evan nodding his head before then cocking it to the side and returning the comment with, “And you told Cody.” The ex-rocker nodded his head slowly and then moved his face forward, pressing it into the crook of Evan’s neck. Evan’s fingers threaded through Chris’ hair reflexively, fairly cradling his mate’s face into his throat—almost like he did when Chris fed from him, though this time that wasn’t necessary. They had fed from one another the night before and they had had some of the fridge blood to top up two nights before that, so… yes, right then it would be for greed than necessity, and Chris refused to do that at all.

Even though he was no longer at risk of killing Evan when he fed from him he’d still never risk the potential endangerment by taking enough to weaken him, and the idea of being so careless and taking Evan’s blood without real need made his stomach twist in revulsion. “I still remember it like it was yesterday,” and in reality, given their sort of time-span, that was quite true; there had been really no time at all since Evan had changed and become one of them, and the night when Chris’ attack had led to that happening. He had forced Evan’s hand in the matter regardless of what Evan might say to the contrary. “I came _so close_ —“Chris’ usually level voice broke.

Pushing Chris back enough to be able to look him in the eye, Evan then kept his hands on Chris’ cheeks enough to make sure that his lover couldn’t avoid his gaze and then try and push away some of what he was about to tell him. Granted it was all things that he had said to him before, but he’d say them a thousand times over if that was what Chris needed to feel better about everything. “Chris, I love you,” Evan said, expression sincere and words full of meaning; but even if those features hadn’t been present Chris could _feel_ it. He could feel _Evan_ right in his very blood, in his chest, in his heart. Evan consumed him, and he didn’t regret _that_.

The only thing he regretted was that it had been much _too_ _soon_. “We’ve been through so much together, before then, since then,” Evan continued, not seeming phased by Chris’ thoughts even though Chris knew Evan could sense his emotions as well as Chris could sense his, “And I’ve not regretted any of it. You were all I wanted it life, and though I know you wanted me to experience more of being human, to mature before I took the same course you did—“that was one way of considering it at least and Chris wasn’t about to correct him, “But I doubt that anything of this, anything about us, would have changed significantly even if I _had_ managed to do that for you.”

“I had nothing to live for,” Evan said, “I had you, I wanted to be with you, and that only further cemented in my mind that this was what I wanted to do. Whatever I had to do to be with you… nothing was too big of a sacrifice for me Chris, not even my humanity.” Evan leant in and pressed their lips together, the kiss starting out chaste but then growing deeper as Evan’s tongue requested, and was granted, access to Chris’ mouth. The languid pace of the kiss didn’t change though, their lips slowly separating. Chris seemed slightly less tense after the action and Evan had something akin to his usual smile back in place once more. “I love you,” he repeated.

“I love you too,” Chris murmured whole-heartedly, knowing he’d never meant anything in his entire existence than telling Evan he loved him, “I love you more than anything. You’re _everything_ to me, Evan,” he murmured. Evan rested his forehead against Chris’, fingers gently stroking one of his cheeks now, the other sliding to rest on Chris’ shoulder to keep himself balanced even though he knew he was perfectly safe with Chris’ hands supporting his thighs. “I do wish you wouldn’t torture yourself like this,” Evan murmured softly, something like uncertainly appearing in his eyes even though he tried to keep his expression as neutral as he possibly could.

“It makes me feel like you didn’t _want_ to be with me as much as I want to be with you,” Evan said, covering Chris’ mouth with his hand to forestall the immediate denial that he knew his mate would attempt to unleash upon him, probably wanting to tell him off for even considering such a thing. “We’re together and that’s all that mattered. The _what’s_ and _why’s_ don’t matter, because one way or another it would have happened.” When his usual impish grin appeared on his face Chris knew that his mate had reached the limit on which he had for his capacity to deal with this sort of serious topic… not to say he was unhappy about this development.

“So,” Evan murmured, giving a playful growl as he rubbed their noses together, Chris feeling himself stirring already due to that small gesture from his loved one, “Why don’t we recreate the first time we discovered my new thresholds for things?” Oh, that first time of sex after Evan had changed… Chris had believed that Evan had kept up with him admirably even though lots of furniture damage had been a consequence of Chris focusing his efforts on that as opposed to unleashing his full desire on Evan, but when Evan was as indestructible as he was… It was something that you never overlooked or took for granted. “We don’t have any more handcuffs though, do we?”

When Evan pulled a pair from behind his back, seemingly out of nowhere, Chris wasn’t inclined to ask where he’d found them.


	23. I'll Be Right Here When You Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted spends his last day as a human

Ted and Cody lay on the bed together, not saying very much. Cody knew it would be dawn soon and he wouldn’t be able to remain awake once that happened, but there really wasn’t very much more he could say. They were both aware of what was coming, Ted wasn’t about to change his mind and Cody couldn’t think of anything to say to dissuade him, or even if he should try. Hadn’t Chris said he was afraid he would go after Evan if the man wasn’t around? And he had heard Ted say that he couldn’t live without him and never wanted to try. Maybe this was the best thing all around for them. But he felt like he was stealing Ted from the world. Whenever he tried to think of how Ted would adapt, all he could see were the times Ted went camping with his brothers, or managed to drag Cody along with him. Cody preferred his nature a long way off but Ted had been more than happy to wake at the crack of dawn, greeting the sun with a grin before enjoying the situation, usually while Cody complained of insects and having nowhere to plug in his hairdryer. There would be no more of that for Ted, unless he was happy to do so only by moonlight.

“Baby,” Cody said eventually, rolling over to look Ted in the face, resting his forehead against his lovers. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Nope,” said Ted promptly, eyes meeting Cody’s, a smile on his face. “And I don’t care. I’m going to do it regardless.”

“But Ted…” Cody bit his lip, no sign of his fangs. “No more daylight. No _sunshine_. Never, _ever_ again. You don’t have to do this baby. I won’t blame you for a second if you don’t.”

“I know.” Ted reached up to stroke a hand through Cody’s hair. “You keep telling me. And like I keep telling you, it doesn’t matter. I love you and I’m gonna be with you baby. You need me right now and I _always_ needed you. If it was me in your shoes and you were me…”

Cody smiled weakly. “You couldn’t stop me from doing everything I could.”

“There you go then. You don’t need to keep asking me Cody, I might not know everything about this but I _do_ know that I _want_ it. I couldn’t live without you again Cody, I just couldn’t.”

Cody gave a slight smile. “I love you Teddy,” he mumbled, closed his eyes and was dead to the world.

Ted watched him for a while, noting how pale he seemed to have gotten in the last couple of days. He hadn’t the same kind of tan that he’d had when he was alive of course but he had retained some of the colour that he’d had in life when he’d fed. Although he had fed from Randy, it didn’t seem to have made a whole lot of difference. Cody needed him… and the most frightening part was that he couldn’t even offer Cody enough blood to tide him over until they had come to terms with the decision. He was smart enough to know that Cody wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.

He slipped out of bed, although he usually took some sleep when the sun rose and spent the afternoon roaming but he could sleep later – well, he could rest later. Maybe. There were some things that were more important than sleep.

The gardens were nice, he realised. He had always known it but he had been rather more interested in talking to Justin and mulling over his own situation than he had been in his surroundings. Now he took them in, appreciating the heat of the sun and the way he could see things in a way he hadn’t been able to when he had been playing golf with Evan in the dark. He was going to miss a whole lot when there was no sunlight and mostly it would be the small things like that.

He had grabbed his phone as he left the house and now he checked it out. The messages from his family made him pause a moment; how the hell was he going to explain this to them? _Yeah, I won’t be going back to the apartment because I’m a vampire now and by the way, I decided it was the best thing for me because it turns out Cody’s alive, or undead, and if he can’t drink my blood on a more regular basis than I could give him as a human he’s in big trouble._ That wouldn’t work. There wasn’t anything at all that would work.

In the end he returned to the house to borrow Cody’s laptop, taking it into the garden with him and typing out some mails, to his brothers first and then to his parents. They were harder than he would have imagined them to be. He decided to go with some wild story, that he had chosen to quit his job and travel for a while. It had been a spur of the moment thing, he explained, and he just wanted to get away and see the country, focus his mind. _I can’t stay,_ he wrote in each letter, or a variation of. _Not when all I want is for Cody to walk through the door. I can’t live my old life without him, so it’s about time that I found myself a new life, or at least a new perspective._ It wasn’t a lie as such and eventually it would fall apart completely as years went by and no one saw from him… but he hoped that the mails would help and perhaps he could send some pictures as well so that they would worry less. He couldn’t stop them from worrying altogether of course, but he could reassure them that he wasn’t dead. Or at least, not in the accepted sense.

When he sent the mails, he felt a sense of relief. There was one issue out of the way and the most pressing one. It wasn’t exactly ideal but it was the best he could do. As he looked up at the sky, slightly overcast but at least there was no sign of rain, it occurred to him that Justin wasn’t around. Of course, it had been a full moon the night before and although he knew little about werewolves he suspected it might affect the man, given what his mate was. He wondered briefly how werewolves were turned and if it hurt… but it wasn’t exactly something he needed to be thinking about.

He spent the entire day outside, although he wasn’t sure whether or not it was to enjoy it while he could or whether it was more to torment himself in years to come, remembering what he had given up. He suspected the former. Yeah, he liked the daylight, the sunshine, he hadn’t been a sun worshipper but he did enjoy the outdoors. But he loved Cody more and it wasn’t as if he would be confined to the house forever. He just couldn’t share the outdoors with the sun was all. He also gave in to the urge to order a large pizza for himself, _and_ dessert. The clan drooling over his food left him under no illusions as to how they missed _that_ , although whether that was some memory from humanity or just the smell, he didn’t know. He didn’t think that Randy or John would have ever even eaten pizza given their ages, but if there was one food that smelled good, that was it.

The pizza guy probably thought he was insane when he paid for the food and went to eat it in the garden, but he didn’t care at all. Instead he ate every bit and then when dusk started to darken the sky, he went inside. The fridge where the blood was kept caught his attention and for the first time he did a little investigating. There it was, chilled and clearly labelled with blood types. That at least made him smile; was it like a winery or something? Perhaps type A was a fancy beaujolais while the more common type O was akin to a bog-standard hock. He’d soon find out, he supposed.

He drank an entire litre of pepsi before heading back upstairs, sprawling out on the bed beside Cody, who hadn’t moved even an inch since he had left him several hours before. He should be tired – he hadn’t slept in around thirty hours and it had been rather hard to get used to the new hours, meaning that he hadn’t gotten all that much sleep in the first place. But he didn’t feel like sleeping. In fact, he could feel adrenaline running through his whole body. He couldn’t go on like that indefinitely but then again, he didn’t think he’d have to. Now his mind was made up he wanted it over with _now_ , before Cody could get any worse.

When Cody stirred, he opened his eyes, smiled and curled closer into Ted. “You smell like outside,” he said indistinctly. “Like sunshine.”

Ted closed his own eyes a moment, then reopened them with a determined expression. Cody might not think this was for the best for him, but Ted wasn’t about to allow his lover to change his mind, no matter how subtle the attempt. “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine,” lied Cody – he wasn’t feeling fine at all and not all of that came from a hunger so deep that it seemed to have settled into his bones and refuse to go away. There was only one thing that could possibly satisfy that hunger he knew and a lot of his trepidation and unease, the slightly sick feeling in his stomach, came from that knowledge. “I’m fine baby.”

Ted glanced at him and knew he was lying, but he didn’t say a word about it, instead smiling but his nerves showing in his eyes. “So! Let’s get on with this, shall we?”

 _“Tonight?!”_ Cody looked shocked. “I didn’t think we were gonna do it _tonight!”_

“So when did you think we were gonna do it?” Ted cupped Cody’s chin firmly, knowing that he couldn’t harm his lover that way no matter how much force he exerted. “Babe, we’ve gotta do this before it gets too far along, we can’t let that happen. You know we can’t. So tonight, before we have too much time to psyche ourselves out.”

Cody licked his lips, nodded slowly, fangs trying to make an appearance just at the _thought_. “I’m not doing this without someone there to make sure it goes right,” he said. Until the words left his mouth, he hadn’t known that he had committed to the course of action, had thought himself undecided. Apparently not. “I’ve never even seen it done before. I need someone to make sure that I’m doing it right.”

Ted considered. “Well, that leaves us with three possibilities.”

“I don’t think John’s turned anyone except Randy and that was an accident,” Cody said. “And I’m not sure that Chris would want to go through that again. Randy’s done it before and he’s my sire, he’ll be able to uh, control me better than the others would.”

“Then we’ll have to see if Randy can keep an eye on us.” Ted supposed he should have been a little annoyed but in truth he wasn’t. He knew that Randy’s presence would loan Cody some confidence and he was grateful that Cody had agreed to be the one to do it at all – he might have refused completely and Ted knew he would never feel happy with Randy turning him. Not that he would have denied it had Cody said straight out there was no chance of him changing Ted but he couldn’t imagine being in Randy’s embrace and having the man feed from him. No, he wanted it to be Cody and if that meant an audience, so be it.

“Teddy…” Cody dropped his gaze a moment. “I’m scared. I’m scared I’m gonna hurt you. I don’t even remember changing, the few weeks after were a blur, weird… I can’t promise you that it won’t hurt.”

“I don’t care.” Ted brushed his hand against Cody’s cheek. “It’ll only hurt for a while, right?” Cody didn’t look convinced and Ted bit his lip. “Tell me about it, what you remember. Then I’ll know what to expect.”

Cody shook his head a moment – he didn’t want to go into what had led to his death. After all, Ted wasn’t going to have three of them beat the life out of him as Cody had and to recount _that_ part would only upset his lover. “It’s hard to separate what hurt from before and what hurt because I was dying,” he said slowly, seeing the look on Ted’s face and wishing the subject had never come up. “But it was cold. Real cold and everything hurt more. And knowing it’s the end of it all, _that_ strikes you so hard that it’s physical pain. And then there’s waking up…”

He paused as he tried to recall how that had been. _“That_ hurts too. There’s a hunger like you never felt before, it’s like every cell in your body’s screaming and not just your stomach. You know that inside-out feeling you get inside when you’re really hungry, like your stomach’s trying to eat itself? It’s that in every part of you. And there’s confusion. Like an almost total amnesia but with these flashes of things that you know are important and you could remember if you tried, but it seems less important than dealing with the need to stop your body hurting. Me, I shattered the box I was in and – well, it sounds a bit weird but we can uh, sink or rise through the earth without much problem. It’s a survival thing in case we get caught too far from shelter in daylight. Doesn’t work on concrete but normal soil’s just fine. It’s more like the soil kinda moves, not like we disintegrate or anything but it’s useful. I came up through the soil without even having to dig at it and there was the clan waiting for me, minus Ev. I didn’t know who or what they were, I just wanted to feed – and get to you. That was the other thing. I wasn’t sure where I was or even _who_ I was, or who these people were, but I knew you and it’s as well I didn’t get the chance to get to you.”

Ted nodded, wondering what he would have done had Cody succeeded in finding him. Three nights after Cody died, Ted had been lain on his bed clutching one of Cody’s old shirts and not moving, not eating, not sleeping. Just lying there and _hurting_. Had Cody suddenly appeared, he would probably have let his lover in and offered a vein.

“You’ll be there though, right?” he asked in an uncharacteristically timid voice. “When I come back?”

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes,” Cody vowed, pulling Ted into his arms. “I won’t leave your side.”

~:~

In the end, Randy decided that the last thing his childe needed was a big audience and elected to be the only witness. He wanted John there with him, so much that he wanted to stop everything and make sure it happened beforehand, but he knew how intimate such things could be and to have it reduced to a sideshow didn’t sit well with him. And he’d witnessed it alone before after all, not to mention that through their bond, John was with him anyway.

“It’s the right thing to do Rand,” John told him quietly when he spoke of it, squeezing his hand. “It’ll go fine.”

Randy nodded but he remembered all too well that fear he’d had when Chris had come to him with the same request; _don’t let me get out of hand._ It had been hard to watch as his childe, someone he’d taught restraint and caution to those he fed from, drained the life from his mate, hard to watch Evan grow pale and still and hear his heart stop beating. He was the leader of the clan and his children seemed to think he was all-knowing, unflappable. But no matter how long it had been since he was alive, he still thought of himself as just a man and he was just as prone to doubt and ego and mistakes as the rest of them. His just mattered a whole lot more.

Ted hadn’t come down with Cody and Randy wondered if he was having second thoughts or preparing himself or what. He knew that Ted had spent the day doing human things (the empty pizza box had raised a reverential sigh every time one of them had gone into the kitchen) and that seemed to him as though Ted was saying goodbye to that side of himself. He just wondered if having reacquainted himself with the simple pleasures of living, that Ted would realise just what he was leaving behind.

Cody vanished back up to his room and John stopped Randy before he could follow. “Is there anything _you_ need?”

Randy hesitated. Apart from John with him so that if anything _did_ go wrong he wasn’t alone? “Just uh… it’s likely to be tense around here so try to keep everyone chilled if you can. And when it’s done with, I’ll need you then.”

He didn’t come out and say how he’d felt the first time around. Chris had clearly not wanted Randy in the room with himself and his dead human lover and so Randy had gone, knowing there was nothing more that could be done to, or for, Evan now. Either it would work or it wouldn’t. But witnessing that… it sounded odd to say that killing someone could be loving or tender but their species did so for that reason sometimes and seeing how it had been with the two of them and Chris’s emotions running havoc over the sire-childe bond had been rough. He had gone back to his clan to tell them it was done, although they already knew and were sitting in their pairs looking on edge, and then returned to his room feeling… he wasn’t sure how he would describe it. Bereft and for once in his unlife, completely alone. It had been before John showed up and although he’d had a thing with Chris when the man had been alive he had known they weren’t supposed to be mated. He didn’t begrudge Chris in the same way he had begrudged none of his children finding someone to spend the centuries with, but witnessing that moment had made him feel more alone than he ever had before. And terribly sad, because _Chris_ had been terribly sad, guilty, almost disgusted with himself. He had wanted to be alone but all he had been able to see were centuries lying ahead of him with nothing in them but some huge whistling loneliness, being the patriarch to his clan while never being able to show his own vulnerabilities and fuck, did he feel them that night. He remembered that it had been one of a handful of occasions over his long life that he had lain on his bed with his teeth in his own arm, drinking his own blood in delicate laps and wishing that it was more of a comfort to him than it was.

He hadn’t realised that John was around the next corner. And he desperately didn’t want to be on his own after this was all done with.

He didn’t know how much of his feelings John picked up through the bond, but John drew Randy into his arms, kissing the spot on his neck where he always fed from. “I’ll be right here once it’s over baby,” he murmured. “I’ll deal with the clan. You’ll be fine.”

Randy wasn’t sure of how reassuring it was that John knew _all_ his insecurities, but it was nice not to have to explain them. “I’d better go and – and watch Cody drain Ted,” he said with a strained smile. He liked Ted, he always had done. He had spent two years watching Ted pine away for his lost love and sometimes it was all that Randy could do not to go over there and tell the man that Cody was _not_ lost, that he shouldn’t lose hope, especially when Ted had been pushed toward that woman he had dated briefly. As painful as it had been to watch Ted fall apart, it would have been more painful and closer to home to watch Cody do it instead.

“Love you,” said John solemnly. As much as they could banter about some things, others were just too important.

“Love you too,” replied Randy, thinking that they might not be like Cody and Ted and reassure one another of their feelings all the time, but it was still nice to hear. “I’ll see you soon.”

He went up to the couples room again and paused, hearing Ted’s heart beating from inside. He was going to miss that sound. He was also aware that he might be letting himself in for a lot of trouble – Ted might have been damaged but he was re-establishing himself as the alpha male and without direct control over the other, that could lead to friction between them. It was a chance he would just have to take.

In the room, Ted was sitting on the bed cross-legged, wearing a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. Randy’s eyes fell onto his torso, thinking that Ted had started putting on weight and done well to keep the muscle tone that he’d had since before Cody had died. There were worse ways to spend the rest of eternity looking.

“You ready Ted?” he asked. Ted nodded determinedly, a little pale, heart beating a little too fast, but that was fine. That would actually help matters. “Cody?” he added. Of the two, Cody looked the least ready to go through with it but to his credit Cody never wavered, merely nodded with his mouth set in a grim line. Randy knew that behind those lips, his fangs were already extended in anticipation.

The best thing he could do was to remain unobtrusive and so he leant against the wall, half-hidden in the shadows away from the lamp and waited, completely unmoving.

Ted had been aware of Randy but he was only on the edges of his concern and with him being part of the background, easily forgotten when Cody stroked his face and looked into his eyes. Ted realised that he was shaking. In spite of choosing this and knowing that he wasn’t going to change his mind, he was scared green.

“Okay baby?” asked Cody.

“Okay…” Ted sighed contentedly as Cody found his lips, kissing him with the slow gentleness that spoke of tempered desire and a feeling too deep to put into words. Ted relaxed into his arms slowly and Cody broke the kiss, trailing his lips over Ted’s jaw and to his neck, a hand buried in thick blonde hair as Ted’s tilted his head to show his neck in obvious, unhesitating invitation. Cody kissed at his pulse, making a sound that was suspiciously like a sob as he opened his mouth and _bit_.

Ted’s entire body stiffened in his arms, his eyes widening. This was nothing like it had been when Cody had fed from him with no other purpose than taking a little from him. This time Cody had pierced the vein proper and instead of a trickle, this was a torrent. Without Cody, his blood would have painted the wall opposite and the ceiling. With Cody, not a drop was wasted. He could hear Cody’s throat working rapidly, the occasional satisfied sound coming out of him. The thought of how long Cody had waited for this kind of satiation to happen flitted through his mind, but it was only a momentary thought. There were more immediate considerations for Ted.

Like how he could _feel_ the blood draining from him, leaving him feeling weak and cold. Like how his chest was starting to ache with his hearts effort to pump blood he didn’t have. Like how cold he was growing, how his hands and feet were growing numb, how his vision was fading and all he could hear was the weak fluttering of his heart in his ears. Like how _fast_ it was all happening. He had expected that same slow, careful feeding that Cody had used before but this was almost violent and he was a little scared – but only a little. He couldn’t be terrified, not when he didn’t have the strength left to take air into his lungs without a fight.

He could still feel Cody’s hands on him though and it occurred to him that if he had to die for Cody, then at least he was doing it in the other’s arms.

He hitched in a weak breath that did nothing to inflate his lungs, his vision dark although his eyes were open.  Dimly he could feel Cody’s fangs pulling slowly from his flesh, the other’s tongue lapping over the wound. His breath coughed out and he rasped in another that did nothing at all for him. And then he felt something warm against his lips, something coppery in his throat. _Blood_. He managed to swallow what trickled down his throat, almost coughing it straight back up again. It should have been disgusting but it tasted like life, heat. He just didn’t have enough left in him to resist, ask for more, reject what had been given. He was at the end.

 _I’m dying_ he thought but it didn’t seem real. Nothing did, except for Cody’s arms around him and how much his body’s instinctive fight to hold onto its life _hurt_.

“Baby…”

Cody sounded like he might be crying even though it was impossible and Ted struggled to almost-full consciousness for one last time, forcing his eyes to focus. Cody was directly in front of him, sorrow in his eyes and yet he seemed healthier, more flushed and somehow more _there_ than he had. Ted smiled, tried to take in a breath and couldn’t. His heart beat weakly in his ears, paused for a long, long moment then thudded once again. Somewhere along the line his hands had slipped from Cody’s shoulders and were hanging limp against the bed.

“Let go baby,” Cody said softly. “I love you baby and I’ll see you soon but for now just… let it go. I love you.”

 _I love you too_ , thought Ted but he didn’t get the chance to say it.

Cody’s words followed him down into darkness.

~::~

It was a very crucial moment when Randy’s voice sounded lowly from the shadows, Cody almost jumping because he’d almost completely forgotten about the other’s presence, “Do it now, Cody.” Ted’s heart had almost stopped and if they didn’t finish the process for the change then Ted would--- well, not be waking up again. Making another sound that came out like a strangled sob Cody nodded his head, cradling Ted’s head with one hand as he bit into the wrist of the other. When blood welled on the surface he pressed the appendage to Ted’s bluing lips. The other didn’t move as he did this, and though Cody could still hear faint beats he panicked internally.

However, before it could get too much and he could forget about what he was supposed to be doing Randy was there, one hand keeping Cody’s pressed into Ted’s mouth as his other massaged Ted’s throat, coaxing the blonde to use the last of his strength to swallow what he had been given by his lover. And almost the second that Cody eased his wrist away from Ted’s mouth when Randy nodded the man’s heart stopped. The process leading to that moment had seemed so slow and drawn out, so for the sound to cut off so suddenly Cody was once again seized by an intense sense of panic; what if he hadn’t made it in time to bring Ted back?

For several long seconds neither sire nor childe moved, both men looking down at the pale, unmoving form that was Cody’s lover. Ted’s blue lips were lightly stained red, making his otherwise peaceful, if slightly ghostly appearance looked almost macabre—before Randy could seek something to wipe the other’s mouth with though Cody leant down brushing his lips across Ted’s cold, bloody ones before brushing the remnants of his own blood away with him thumb. “I’ll see you soon, baby,” Cody murmured softly, starting to get off of the bed. Randy fell back himself, watching Cody closely. After seeing Chris’ guilt and grief he knew better than to just leave immediately.

When Cody opened the wardrobe doors though, that was when Randy took his cue to leave. It was a strange mark of their species that when their loved one was in the change, their mate placed them into a new outfit that would still be fresh when they awoke… thanks to the fact that they had no bodily functions, and that they obviously didn’t begin to decompose the way a normal corpse would. Cody took great care and time in selecting Ted a pair of jeans and one of his favourite shirts, adding a jumper over the top; he didn’t want Ted cold whilst he was readying for the new stage in his life, even though he knew Ted couldn’t feel _anything_.

After that he gently combed Ted’s hair down for him, and then eventually settled on laying a blanket atop Ted. As he had promised, he had no intention of leaving Ted’s side. Feeding wouldn’t be a problem for the next few days at least; not only had he taken from his mate, but he had taken everything that mate had had to offer… already the hunger that had plagued him recently seemed like a distant memory, an awful dream. If only this could be a dream too, he thought as he caressed Ted’s pale cheek. Though the adjustment to Ted’s heart-beat constantly in the back of his awareness had been odd, he now felt empty without it.

Slowly, as though afraid the slightest of movements would wake Ted up, Cody eased underneath the blanket with the other and nestled his head on Ted’s shoulder the way he always would, an arm settled over Ted’s waist. Some people might consider it gruesome to be lying there embracing a corpse, but Cody didn’t think there was anything odd at all about it. What would have been odd, in his mind, would be to completely remove himself from the presence of Ted’s body. Closing his eyes Cody choked on a sound that again seemed to be a sob, though again no tears accompanied it. Squeezing Ted’s middle gently, Cody whispered, “Come back to me soon, baby.”

Ted didn’t move, obviously, and Cody doubted the other could even hear him but that didn’t matter. Somehow, someway, he knew that Ted would come back to him. He couldn’t allow him to consider the other possibilities. Downstairs he could hear his clan brothers moving around, though the sounds were far and few between; the magnitude of what was happening was probably enough to subdue them all. Not that he admittedly much cared what was happening with them right then--- he was more concerned by the unmoving person beside him. Cody didn’t move for hours, merely laying, embracing Ted, waiting to see what would happen next.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Randy was met by a sombre, concerned looking John in the main entranceway. Immediately the childe sought his sire’s, his mate’s embrace, the force of the emotions inside of him making him feel like he could choke –despite not needing to breathe- and his heart would have been aching had it still been capable of beating. No saint though he was, no naïve stranger to death, seeing that which he had borne witness to upstairs never got easier. John’s arms went around him, protective, soothing, as though attempting to shield him from everything. It wasn’t easy for Randy to show this side of himself and both of them knew it.

“You did it then?” John asked gently after several long moments and Randy nodded, drawing back just enough to look John in the eyes. Since the first time Randy had seen him John’s eyes had always provided him with a sense of safety and reassurance. “He did it,” he corrected automatically, though he knew what John was getting at; after all, his emotional connection to the other had to have told him that he’d gotten more involved than he’d initially expected he might have to, and obviously John would have understood the implications of this. “Ted… Well, we just need to wait now,” the clan leader murmured and John nodded slowly.

“Everyone’s just been in here,” John murmured. It had been because he had _requested_ they stayed there for the duration, of course, but also because of the fact that they had deemed it safest for them all. Despite not being anywhere near the immediately vicinity of Cody and Ted’s room every vampire in the house could sense the large feeding, could smell the blood even though Cody hadn’t lost a single drop of it. Clearly they were all antsy and wound up thanks to their instincts at the knowledge of what was happening, but all in all they had handled the matter well. Of them all Evan had found it the hardest, but that was hardly his fault. He was only young.

“We should probably go in there and tell them though…” John murmured and Randy nodded stiffly before taking his mate’s hand and allowing himself to be pulled towards the living-room. As he entered all of his children, and Evan, all looked up at once. They all seemed a little ashen faced but that was to be expected; it was no small feat that which Cody had accomplished, and despite what their instincts compelled them to think regarding human-life they weren’t callous enough to completely disregard the fact that Ted had passed--- even if they were fully anticipating him to return. “It’s done,” Randy’s voice seemed to echo in the otherwise quiet room.

In tandem each head in the room bowed and Evan held on tight to Chris, a sorrowful expression on his face. Their connection to one another might not be as great as the one between themselves and their creators, but they could sense the harrowing sorrow coming from several floors above them. A mutual decision this may have been but that didn’t make it easier. Randy looked at them all individually, expression tense, “Everyone is to leave him alone,” he said, making a firm suggestion even though he knew that most of them would have the good sense not to try and push their presences upon Cody at that moment in time, “He’ll come and seek us in his own time.”

~::~

 _It was so quiet,_ that was the first thought Ted had when he next became aware of anything. It was so quiet and he couldn’t _see_ anything, not even the smallest bit of light. For one terrifying moment he wondered whether he was in Hell; he had once heard a story in Sunday School about a preacher who had had his eyelids removed when he had been condemned to Hell for sinning, the loss of his lids preventing the man from blocking-out the horrific sights of the damned. But, this place was too quiet for Hell, and he could see no flames, smell no sulphur and hear no screams… which could only mean that he wasn’t in Hell. But if that _was_ the case… _where was he?_

Bringing his hand up (and why did it take so much effort to complete such a simple action? He felt as though his bones were made of lead) in front of his face Ted found that he couldn’t even see _that_ and yet he _knew_ for certain that it _was_ there. Attempting to speak proved useless, and for the life of him he couldn’t _understand_ what was happening to him. Somewhere, in the back of his subconscious, Ted could tell that there was something he should be remembering. There was something _important_ he should be thinking about and yet… he couldn’t quite _grasp_ the thought that was dancing at the edge of his awareness no matter how he tried.

It was the strangest feeling ever, aside from there seeming to be _nothing_ else around him whatsoever. He felt as though he was floating because he couldn’t actually feel anything, and yet at the same time he felt as though he was suffering from the worst illness _ever_ ; his body ached, felt heavy... and how he was aware of this even through the strange numbness that seemed to have surrounded him he had no idea. Just as the blonde readied himself to try and move, a sudden _pain_ started in the tips of his fingers and toes, and spread like fire through his very veins, seeping into him, leaching into every single _fibre_ of his being, including the tips of his hair and his vital organs.

Writhing, he fought, trying to claw at his own flesh, his movements seeming to get slower and slower the stronger the urge became. He hurt, he hurt _so very badly_. Why wouldn’t it stop? Why didn’t someone _help him_? Maybe he was damned after all; maybe Hell wasn’t universal at all, maybe everyone had their own personal variation… and there had never been anything more terrifying to Ted than being alone. No, wait; he wasn’t terrified the most of being left alone in general, but of being… of being without _someone_ specific. _But who?_ When they were clearly so important to him why the fuck wouldn’t he even remember their face?

The pain, the heat, bubbling and searing his blood was getting worse and Ted was sure he was screaming, despite not being able to hear anything. His mouth was open and his teeth were gnashing, muscles chording and tightening, kicking and flailing to try and escape from this pain and oppressive darkness. He needed to get out; he didn’t want to be here anymore. He had someone else he had to be, somewhere crucial and there was someone waiting for him. When he accidentally bit himself the sudden shock of razor-like pain was disconcerting. _Since when did he teeth get that sharp? He’d rarely ever drawn blood when he’d bitten himself before…_

_Blood._

The next thing Ted became aware of was that he was _hungry,_ more hungry than he could ever recall being before in the fuzzy recesses of his memory. He needed food, he _needed_ \--- and then, suddenly, the crowding in his mouth and the rebellion of his insides seemed to stop out of nowhere and Ted’s entire body froze, once again suspended in the sea of _nothingness_ that he had been trapped in before. He knew what he needed. Just like that it was all so clear to him, so obvious. _Cody. Cody was the one waiting for him, Cody was the one he wanted. He needed to find him, he had to get to him. Now. Blood. Cody. Cody. Hungry. Cody. Cody. Cody._

**_Cody_ ** _._

~::~

“Argh!” John hissed in pleasured pain as Randy’s nails dug into his chest hard enough to bring small, sluggish droplets of crimson to the surface. He was buried balls-deep inside of Randy, his lover straddling him and riding him as though the very world was coming to an end, as though copulating with John was the only way to keep them all _existing._ It was fraught, it was desperate, and the fact that Randy was allowing him to see _this_ compassionate, deeply guarded side of himself, meant the world to John. This wasn’t really for him and he knew it, but that didn’t bother him. If this would help Randy feel better, to get on and ease his conscience, it was fine.

Not milliseconds later Randy’s tongue chased the droplets away, his already tight inner-muscles seeming to lock around John even more than they had been before. Not once did Randy look away from John’s face and John’s own eyes didn’t stray from Randy’s if he could help it. His hands were gripped tightly around Randy’s hips, leaving finger-shaped imprints behind that would be gone before they had even fully finished their sex. When Randy’s mouth pressed against his John’s tongue greedily plundered the hot, wet cavern being offered to him so freely. When Randy was well and truly distracted though, John used the chance and flipped them over.

Though surprised by the sudden change Randy didn’t lose his rhythm, pushing back on John eagerly as his lover thrust into him rapidly, hard and deep and pressing almost unbearably firmly into his prostate with every movement. When John bit his lip he hissed but didn’t fight it, also not fighting when the other nipped at his throat warningly; John wasn’t chastising him, merely exerting his natural dominance, and for once Randy was completely content to merely embrace his latent submissiveness… didn’t stop him from quite deliberately raking his nails down John’s back and biting quite firmly down onto the man’s shoulder though, drawing closer to his impending release.

When they came they came together, shuddering and growling, clutching at one another and kissing messily, John jerking Randy hard and without any real rhythm to coax his lover over the abyss of pleasure with him. As Randy’s seed covered their stomachs and John’s hand, John spilled himself deeply and completely inside of his mate. Unable to help himself John dropped down onto Randy lightly, however when he gathered himself he made to pull away. He actually felt tired, and breathless, even though he didn’t have to breath even as latently as the once a minute that Cody and the others did… he maybe drew breath once every half an hour if he had to guess.

“Don’t,” Randy murmured, legs tightening around John’s waist to prevent the man from moving away as he had intended. Arching a brow slightly in silent question John then heeded his lover’s wish and gently lowered their sticky bodies together again, but then gently shifted them so that Randy was laid across his chest instead because he was sure that would be more comfortable for the other. His throat still stung slightly where Randy had bitten him but John didn’t begrudge him that--- he hadn’t been exactly gentle he was sure when he had taken his return feed after all. Absently he stroked the already healed bite mark, “Do you feel better?” he asked him quietly.

Suddenly, a spike of sheepishness registered in John’s awareness even though Randy didn’t move from his position laid over him with his face nuzzled into John’s shoulder. “Was that a bit much?” Randy murmured; he knew he’d let himself go quite a bit there, but it had been the first time he had had someone there with him to vent, to help him cope with the memories of what had been and of what may happen this time around. If for some reason it didn’t work Cody wouldn’t be the only one who was blamed. “No,” John murmured, pressing a kiss to the closest part of Randy he could reach, “It’s fine. You’re fine. Everything will be just fine, I promise you.”


	24. They Don't Always Come Back Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted awakens into his new life and John makes an admittance to Randy that puts the whole delicate procedure into an even more deadly perspective.

When Ted awoke from his change, five days had already passed and Cody had been forced out of the room to socialise with the others. They hadn’t rushed him as Randy had said, but having him cooped up all the time with the corpse of his sweetheart was too morbid even in their minds. Chris had been forced out after three days when he had been the same. It wasn’t good for the mind they were sure, though the second Cody could he returned back to the bedroom--- and when he entered it his whole world seemed to swim as he saw that Ted was sitting there, upright, looking around the room in a manner that could only be described as _confused._

“Baby?” the word fell tremulously, hopefully from Cody’s lips in little more than a whisper, but Ted’s head snapped towards him immediately. He still looked pale, but if it weren’t for the fangs poking out over his bottom lip and the unnaturally large size of his irises Cody might have been mistaken for thinking that Ted had just been in something of a mini-coma, recovering from some sort of illness. Before even he could react though Ted was off of the bed--- and though Cody knew that newborns were fast he was quite unprepared for just _how_ fast Ted seemed to be. His back hit the door as Ted collided with him, shaking the heavy wood with a dull _thud_ sound.

Hitting the carpeted floor Cody allowed himself to be pinned down, his wrists secured by Ted’s hand and his lover’s body over his own. This wasn’t surprising behaviour; Evan had apparently gone for Chris when he had first awoken, but that was because, as Christian had surmised, the mind’s efforts to understand what had happened as well as factoring in the experiences and memories that they had already had before their passing and resurrection, meant that until that was fully settled they were completely unaware of nigh-on everything save for the new presence and their urges. A few hours at best and Ted would calm down… but admittedly that was just a small step.

Even if Ted calmed down from his ‘first time freak out’ as Adam affectionately referred to it, it could be several days, even a few weeks before he was to come out of the room and be introduced with everyone and reacquainted with everything. The sooner the new member could be introduced to the clan the better, but it wasn’t something that they could rush. Cody trembled, body filled with relief and shock and, quite inappropriately he was sure, desire, towards the man over him… and from the way Ted tensed, eyes glinting as he assessed him, on some level he felt it too. And from the tent he could see forming in Ted’s jeans he was not at all averse to this realisation.

The ins-and-outs of conscious thought would come later, but right then Ted had urges… and as his mate it was Cody’s duty, his honour, to tend to those urges for his newly risen sweetheart. “Teddy,” he spoke softly, gasping slightly on reflex as Ted’s face pressed into his neck. Though one might never have considered Ted a chatterbox per se this continued silence from him was a little unnerving for Cody… so when the single murmur of, “ _Cody,”_ hit the air he felt reassured. Ted at least remembered him, even if he didn’t remember down to the finest detail who he was, what their relationship with one another was. Instinct would lead to mate, so it was fine.

“Yes Teddy,” Cody whispered, holding perfectly still as Ted scented him, but unable to help squirm slightly and offer his neck reflexively as Ted licked a surprisingly warm stripe over his jugular and then whimpered. “Let go off my hands Teddy,” Cody tried to reason and Ted growled softly, clearly expecting that freeing Cody would lead to him fleeing. Ha, as if Cody would ever run from Ted. “Let me go baby,” Cody cooed softly, wondering if he was imposing his will properly; it wasn’t as though he’d ever had the opportunity to practice the sires’ technique before, “Let me go and we’ll get you something to eat.” Ted licked his jugular again slowly.

After a rather tenuous moment Ted’s hands slowly released Cody’s, and Cody slowly, very slowly so as not to accidentally startle Ted, threaded one hand through Ted’s hair to guide his head and then held on to his shoulder to keep himself aware, supported. The first feeding of the change was the hardest, that much he remembered and had gathered from everyone else’s stories; it was a natural response to keep feeding, to take until there was nothing left to take… Killing one another through feeding was hard but sadly not unheard of, especially with a newborn, and at the very least the wounds could be difficult to recover from if he didn’t stop him.

“Gently,” Cody cooed feeling Ted’s shoulders tense, his hands clutching Cody’s hips from where he was now settled between his lover’s legs. The first penetration from Ted’s fangs was possibly the oddest experience ever; the loss of his ‘vamp virginity’ didn’t feel unlike the first time he had had sex with Ted, the first time he had lost his ‘backdoor virginity’ as Shawn had fondly called it, that same sensation of ache, but then _pleasure._ Giving felt as good as taking and Cody gave a small whimpering mew as he listened to the soft, greedy suckling sounds of Ted feeding from him. Automatically his hands tensed, squeezing Ted’s shoulder and pulling on his hair with a firm pressure.

As Cody’s rich, deep, fulfilling blood flooded Ted’s mouth, trickled down his throat like the most potent tipple ever created, flashes and images, senses and sounds all flooded Ted one after the other, bombarding him in a manner that would have been overwhelming had his body not seemed to be completely focused on what he was doing. And all of a sudden, everything seemed to click into place and Ted understood what he was doing: _he was drinking Cody’s blood._ With something akin to maidenly resistance his conscience shied from the thought even as he continued to greedily suck, grinding his hips down into Cody’s own, startled by what he felt as he did.

_He was aroused. He was aroused, and Cody was aroused and… Suddenly, Ted couldn’t recall a time he had ever needed Cody more. If he didn’t get inside of him now… he didn’t know what he’d do._ Whilst moral and urge warred within him Cody carefully but pointedly pulled Ted’s head from his throat, his fangs sliding out easily even as Ted instinctively tried to surge forward to his previous position. He wasn’t finished yet; he wasn’t hungry anymore but he hadn’t had enough. _More. More. More._ Accidentally he ground down again as he propped himself on his arms and the rather _wrecked_ sound of pleasure and submission made him tremble.

Licking at the wound he had made, and savouring the few leftover drops of Cody’s blood Ted then pulled back. He felt as though he’d drank far too many energy drinks, everything seeming too bright and too vibrant, but he couldn’t deny that he felt absolutely _fantastic,_ better than he had e _ver_ felt before. His hair was mussed from where Cody had gripped at it, and his shirt was rumpled with a few buttons missing –no idea when _that_ happened- Cody in a similar state underneath him. Ted’s eyes were still blown, but his pallor was much healthier than before, no longer mortuary pale. He looked… so fresh, almost like he had before his mourning period in fact.

Cody’s eyes were shining, appeared wet even though he couldn’t cry, and his smile was so big it was sure to be painful. “Ted. Welcome back baby,” he whispered, voice shaking with pure emotion; gratitude, relief and… _lust._ Ted would know that tone anywhere. And all at once that reminded him of the ache in his jeans, and the matching erection Cody sported. “Cody,” he whispered, quite unable to focus on anything else but the man underneath him. _Cody,_ his mind repeated, _sire, mate, love._ The words repeated like a mantra and Ted had no reason to doubt it; he could feel it in his heart that this was the person he had been preparing to come back to from the emptiness.

With a growl of pure emotion, Ted’s head darted down, kissing Cody so hard that their fangs clashed and lips were cut accidentally, but it didn’t put the newly turned vampire off, in fact, it spurred him on--- and Cody eagerly received him, welcomed his advance and _him_ as though that was all he had been born upon this earth to do. And, in a way, considering their change as a rebirth almost, this was essentially true.

~:~

Grabbing for Cody’s t-shirt, Ted shredded it all the way up the front and didn’t even seem to notice, merely continuing to kiss the other as if his life depended on it. Cody growled quietly, the sign of Ted’s new strength bringing home to him once more that Ted had really changed – and he had done it for Cody. Pulling at Ted’s own clothes only seemed to spur his lover on and within seconds everything they had been wearing was in scraps on the floor, beyond salvation. And Cody didn’t care even slightly. He knew exactly what Ted wanted from him and couldn’t deny that he wanted the exact same thing. There was a moment of trepidation, Ted still didn’t seem to realise his own strength and wasn’t entirely up to speed with what was going on around him but he shook it off. He’d heal if Ted got rougher than he would do otherwise. And there was the additional bonus that maybe now, finally, he could _touch_ Ted while they were together – no more holding back because he was afraid of harming his lover. As if to test the theory he grabbed Ted’s shoulders, fingers digging in more tightly than he had dared since his own change. There was no snap of breaking bone, Ted growling far more audibly than Cody and moving his lips to Cody’s throat, biting hard enough to leave marks and occasionally draw blood but it seemed that his need for _that_ had been sated, for the time being at least. Even during his most passionate moments Ted had always thought of Cody’s needs before his own, this unrestrained _need_ meant that he lacked the usual finesse he used but the desperate touches spoke to something within Cody.

Preparation wasn’t going to happen, that much he had realised already but his slight unease was overridden by desire. Still, when he felt Ted breach him he couldn’t help but whimper a little; Ted was slick but nothing like what he was used to. It wasn’t the first time they had been overcome with lust and neglected to ready themselves but it had been before Cody had died the last time it had happened.

Cody hadn’t expected that Ted would recognise the sound, not because he didn’t care but because restraint was very, very difficult for a newborn and had to be relearned all over again with their transformation. That was why he was rather startled when Ted paused, buried inside him but not moving in spite of the mild trembling that showed how desperately he wanted to. He met Ted’s eyes, which were still wide and filled with desire. “Baby?”

“I want—“

“I want too,” Cody growled back, pushing himself back on Ted’s cock in a signal to go ahead. That momentary pause was enough, he decided – but it also reassured him. Ted might be confused and not entirely himself, but his love was still there and barely buried beneath the surface. One of his great fears had been something going wrong and just that small move had assuaged his fears enormously.

That small restraint was all that Ted had right then though. With a needy sound he started to drive into Cody, hard and fast and with no holding back whatsoever, Cody grabbed at his shoulders with a force that would have crushed Ted only the week before and now didn’t faze him in the slightest, matching his lover’s rhythm easily, pulling Ted’s face to his so that they could kiss again. He dared to be rough with Ted in a way he wasn’t sure he had ever been before and Ted responded by upping the stakes, new fangs drawing blood when he kissed the other, fingers leaving bruises and scratches over Cody’s body as he thrust directly against Cody’s prostate.

Cody had no idea how long they lay on the carpet satiating themselves and one another, only that it seemed to be a long time and at the same time nowhere near long enough, conscious only that Ted was with him, joined with him in the most primal way possible, speaking to every instinct he possessed. As he approached orgasm he rolled them over, sitting astride Ted and feeling his lovers hands grabbing his ass with bruising force that he didn’t just accept but welcomed.

“Theodore…” He wasn’t sure where _that_ had come from; he called Ted by his given name sometimes when he was feeling affectionate or teasing but it rarely happened in the heat of the moment. That wasn’t all though, he could feel the _rest_ of Ted’s name behind his lips, the feeling of something that was a part of him yet so much bigger than him gathering in his chest. Uncertain all of a sudden he bit his lip to stop the words, grazing himself with his fangs and then forced to part his lips to cry out as Ted thrust into him so _perfectly_ that he was almost startled into coming, yelling at the ceiling as he coated his own stomach and Ted’s with his release. Barely a second later Ted’s own wordless cries joined his own and he came deep inside Cody, forcing more pleasured mewls from his sire.

As soon as Cody leaned forward to kiss Ted, Ted’s arms wrapped around him and pulled him against his chest, tightly enough to have crushed his ribs had it been possible, or stolen his breath had he had any. “Don’t leave me,” he mumbled, almost inaudible.

Cody stiffened a little. He seemed to remember that he hadn’t been able to say very much at all for a couple of days after he’d risen, a handful of words that tried to ask what had happened, who these people around him were and where Ted had gone. He wasn’t sure he could have managed something that close to memory. “Baby?” he said softly. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna stay with you forever.”

Ted nodded against his shoulder, apparently reassured and Cody couldn’t help to question a little further. “What do you know babe?”

Ted shrugged slightly, drawing away from Cody slightly so he could look at him. “Died. Back. To be with you.”

Cody smiled a little, although his heart ached a little. Ted had paused before every word, reminding Cody of someone for whom English was a second language, having to mentally translate before putting their thoughts into speech. He clearly didn’t remember very much about anything. Dying was an incredible trauma that affected all of them and how long those effects lasted depended on a lot; it seemed that having him there had calmed Ted’s mind a lot. That much he could be grateful for. No violent outbursts save for his ‘first time freak out’, no attempts to leave the room, no draining Cody of too much. They had been lucky.

“Come to bed Teddy,” he said, taking his lovers hand. “I can feel the sun coming.”

Ted gave him a rather questioning look but allowed himself to be led to the bed, Cody lying beside him and Ted immediately wrapping both arms around him. It reminded Cody of when he had first come back to Ted, the way he had been scared to let Cody leave his sight. Clearly there was _some_ lingering memory.

“I’m gonna be right here when you wake up,” he said quietly, brushing some of Ted’s hair aside and kissing him softly, noticing that Ted’s lips were no longer shredded by his teeth, healed already. The fangs themselves had retracted and Ted seemed calm, if still clingy. He would have to do more to bring Ted all the way back to normal but it was too late right then, he too was young enough that he would simply close his eyes and fall at sunup. “I promise Ted. You can relax.”

~:~

Randy had refused to go too far from the manor while Cody was still waiting for his lover to rise, but John at least managed to talk him into going into the garden for a walk or a run once a night, even if just for a while – John had been wandering for so long that he started to feel itchy if he didn’t get to go outside, even if he ended up right where he started from and he didn’t think it helped Randy to sit inside and brood, as he was wont to do when left to his own devices. Cody had been down for a while but was anxious to get back to his lovers still body and John immediately coaxed Randy outdoors once he was gone. He didn’t comment but he knew that Randy felt it had been too long, that something was going amiss. If Ted had not come back to them by the next night, they would have to face the possibility that he might not come back at all. Of course he wasn’t decomposing, according to Cody at least and John knew that he wasn’t lying, but death wasn’t the only thing that came about when something went wrong with their ritual.

Randy had been mostly quiet as they went out, but they had barely left the manors door when his eyes suddenly widened. “Ted’s conscious.”

John didn’t ask how he knew – he too was starting to sense the presence of another vampire in the house and probably Randy had only known before him due to his sire link with Cody and that it was his house, his clan and his duty to protect it. He didn’t breathe but if he had he would have given a long, relieved sigh. “He took his time.”

“Maybe he needed the rest,” said Randy, who’d never quite worked out why some of them were up and about the very next night after they’d changed and some of them took much longer. It had been three days for Cody, while the fastest childe to rise again was surprisingly enough Shawn, who had popped up less than twenty-four hours later and startled Randy and Hunter both. Randy had no idea how long it had been for himself, he had no way of guessing the passage of time between dying and rising, only that John had said he’d been gone the same night and Randy hadn’t caught any scent or trace of him afterward. He wasn’t even sure that he’d been looking right away. Those days following the change were always filled with a traumatised confusion.

He allowed himself his first genuine smile all night. “Cody doesn’t seem too worried,” he said – he couldn’t pick up thoughts of course but he thought if there was some problem he would be able to feel Cody’s fear and alarm. “I’ll check on them first thing tomorrow evening, best to leave them be for now. Just to make sure there’s nothing to be alarmed about and Ted came all the way back.”

John hesitated. “Have you ever turned anyone that didn’t?”

“No,” replied Randy, a little smug. “But I’ve heard it can happen. Never seen it though. Have you?”

“Twice,” John admitted.

Randy stopped dead. “Dammit John, you never told me!”

“I didn’t want to when I knew there was a good chance Ted was going to be turned sooner or later, I didn’t want to give you one more thing to worry about. It was hundreds of years ago both of them anyway.”

Randy looked at him, completely nonplussed. “What happened?”

John shrugged. “There was one I saw just turned, one who was turned before I was. The second one, he was one of Dave’s.”

_Why doesn’t that surprise me_ Randy thought but didn’t say. He didn’t have to, John picked up on the thought loud and clear, though he suspected Randy hadn’t meant him to.

“It wasn’t long before I got out of there. Dave was getting bored of me, like I told you. One night he went out alone, I didn’t like to go with him by then because I knew I didn’t have to kill to feed but he always did. I was getting ready to fall down asleep and he still wasn’t back – I was kinda hoping he wouldn’t be back that night because it gave me a little peace. I knew I was gonna have to leave and it was just getting intolerable by then…”

Randy moved over to John and wrapped his arms around the other. John leant into Randy’s shoulder, appreciating the comfort. It had been a long time ago but it didn’t feel like long enough ago to him, not at all. “He came back just before dawn with this man, he was barely twenty. He wasn’t conscious but he _was_ alive and I had no idea what he wanted with him, although I had this really bad feeling. Really bad. Turns out he wanted to play a little, like a cat with a bird or a mouse, doesn’t need to eat it but just wants to torment it…”

He steadied himself a moment. “Dave invited me to drink but I just couldn’t be a part of whatever he was planning. So Dave kinda dismissed me, woke the guy up and made sure he knew what was going on. The guy takes one look at him and starts screaming, that kinda made me think something else had gone on before Dave brought him home. Dave shut him up by kissing him, real gentle and that made me wonder if maybe, finally, Dave had met someone who might be called a mate or something. I’d never seen him be gentle with anyone before. I just about stayed up long enough to see that and then I was out like a light. I was young then and I couldn’t stay up like I can now.”

He shuddered. “The next night I woke up on the floor I fell onto – I did that more and more just before I left. Dave had woke up already and the guy, I guess Dave must have tied him up or something to stop him from leaving. He was already that old that he didn’t need to listen to the sun all the time. He wasn’t tied when I woke though and he was flailing at Dave, Dave was straddling him and laughing, just letting him. And then Dave bit his own wrist so that the blood was really pumping out, held it over the guys mouth and _made_ him drink. I went for him without thinking and Dave backhanded me so hard that it dislocated my jaw and I nearly got knocked unconscious when I hit the wall at the other side of the room. I slid down the wall and got to watch the rest before I went off to find someone to fix me. Dave was playing alright. He’d feed from the guy, then make him drink some more, it went on half the night. I don’t know if he was planning to keep it up for days but he got carried away and when I got back to the room – I didn’t want to go back but there wasn’t a _choice_ – the guy was dead. There was this look on his face that just wouldn’t relax even though he was dead, like he’d been in real terror. And there was blood _everywhere_. Dave was angry the guy hadn’t lasted like he wanted him to. Said he was gonna make his own clan and maybe then they wouldn’t all get smart ideas like I did. That night he was mostly pissed because he’d told me to stay, tried to compel me but I wasn’t his childe.” John smirked. “Dave always did like the power.”

“Did the guy come back again?”

“If you can call it that.” John kept his head against Randy’s shoulder. “He rose a few days later. I thought he wouldn’t because it had been at least a week from what I remember. But yeah, he did and…” He moved back a little so he could look at Randy and through their bond Randy could feel the same guilt that was reflected in his lovers blue eyes. “He didn’t talk. He didn’t _think_. He was just walking hunger. No sense of self, or self-preservation. Dave gave him a human one night and the guy just ripped it apart, lapped the blood off of the floor, looked like he was trying to wash in it. Next night he got nothing, Dave said it was an experiment. Scientific. The guy kinda scratched around for a while, then he started to wail and then started chewing at his own veins…” John shook his head slowly. “I’m very bad at describing this. There was _nothing_ there, that’s what I’m trying to say. He was hungry so he tried to eat but there was no _thought_ going on. It was cruel to keep him alive.”

“Who ended it for him?” asked Randy quietly, fearing the worst.

“Master ‘Taker. I went to him and he was _furious_. He put the guy down and that was the end of it. As far as I know Dave never tried it again, I think he might have been under pain of death for that one. And I know it went a long way to ‘Taker deciding that I should be allowed to leave when I asked. Neither of us said, but it was clear that being responsible for me wasn’t teaching him anything about compassion.” 

He paused, trying to put the memories from his mind before carrying on. “The other one was there before I was turned. I saw her once or twice, no more. She wasn’t like the one Dave made though, ‘Taker kept her hidden away. Rumour was that she was one of Kane’s children that hadn’t turned properly. They said he’d tried to save her from drowning, although that’s kind of at odds from what I knew of him it’s not impossible – Kane was a monster but he wasn’t a sociopath in the same way that Dave was. Only she’d been dead too long and she wasn’t quite right. She could feed if she was helped but apart from that she was all but catatonic. I suppose it rings true, we didn’t know it then but I’ve heard in more recent years that drowning can starve the brain and cause catatonia. She wasn’t anywhere near as feral and mindless as the one Dave turned though, just – not there.”

Randy tried to put this new information straight in his head. “Whoa,” he settled for in the end, which didn’t even start to cover how he felt about it all. The new information about Dave made his blood boil but he supposed he should be glad it had only been the one man he had tried to turn – he probably hadn’t had the patience for the experiment before that, more fun to merely feed. Mostly he was glad that it had been ‘Taker to turn John and not Dave. What the hell would have happened if ‘Taker hadn’t turned up and Dave had decided that John should be one of them?

It didn’t bear thinking about.

~:~

When the sun set the following night Cody first registered the gentle sensation of something against his back. Stirring slightly he pushed himself up from the bed just enough to glance over his shoulder--- and his expression softened when he realised it was Ted’s face nestled between his shoulder blades, an arm settled around Cody’s middle securely. It was as though even though he was in complete rest Ted was scared of releasing Cody lest he somehow vanish away.

It didn’t surprise him that Ted was still resting; it was hard for the body to adjust to animation after so long suspended… wherever it was they went when they passed on temporarily. When he attempted to move into a new position however, it seemed to be enough to jolt Ted into a sudden, startlingly abrupt awakening. He tensed eyes wide and vacant for a moment--- but a gentle touch to his cheek from Cody seemed to be enough to ground him again swiftly.

“Teddy? Hush baby, it’s OK, I’m here.” Ted’s eyes closed momentarily before a small smile then tugged the corner of his lips just slightly, relief flashing across Ted’s face. Cody felt terrible that Ted needed any such reassurances even though he knew that it wasn’t anything that he personally had done, but a consequence of Ted’s mind and body attempting to acclimate itself to its new abilities and the unfamiliar surroundings. In response to his words Ted nuzzled the smooth area between Cody’s shoulders again, pressing his lips against the soft flesh and firm muscle his lover and sire possessed. For a moment he went so very _still_.

This shouldn’t have surprised him though, and Cody knew it; learning to be more human was something they all had to go back through again and so Ted couldn’t be faulted. He didn’t know how to keep moving, to do the small things that had once been so natural to him. Of course, Cody wasn’t going to bring that up now--- Ted had lots to do, getting used to being in his own skin and controlling his own body once more, before any of those nonsensical little details had to be considered. “Are you hungry sweetheart?” Cody asked softly, turning onto his back then slowly, Ted pulling back enough to allow him before moving in again.

There was a trepidation that was so very _human_ in Ted’s face, but the hunger was in Ted’s eyes--- and Cody could feel it in himself. Not as wholly consuming as the night before, but still quite painfully poignant. Lifting his wrist to Ted’s mouth (Cody didn’t know why he chose that appendage as opposed to his throat, but some instinct told him it was the right thing to do) the ravenette then gasped softly as Ted’s fangs pierced his flesh. Though Ted wasn’t as rough as he fed from him this time there was still the same barely-restrained greed there that had been present before. It was funny though, how Cody _knew_ when Ted had had enough from him.

It was funny in that Ted himself didn’t even seem aware of his limitations yet and yet Cody was. Gently pushing Ted’s head back from his wrist Cody then lifted it and lapped at the wound lightly, sealing it almost immediately. Ted licked his lips slowly and Cody found it oddly obscene that he wanted to lick his own blood from Ted’s lips. Instead he merely smiled softly and rubbed it away with his thumb--- only for Ted to catch his hand in his own, keeping his thumb extended. When Ted’s mouth surrounded the digit Cody shuddered and bit his lip. The sensation of Ted suckling the blood from the oddly sensitive digit had Cody’s own fangs appearing.

The hooded gaze that Ted levelled at him left Cody in no doubt of what his lover wanted, and had he been human he would probably have sobbed with the sheer exhausting, painful pleasure that he was about to be subjected to, but as it was the sire was merely ready and willing for everything that his childe had to throw at him. A consequence of their kind, Cody remembered being told back in the early days, was that feeding and sexual desire were two things that were so closely entwined in their genes that they couldn’t adequately separate one from the other to begin with. The connection between feeding and sex became less stringent in time.

Over time it became more of choice whether sex accompanied a feeding, or the other way around, but Cody was a little fuzzy on how long that might take because he had never been exposed to live food sources in the same way as others were when they arose and were lacking of a mate to provide for them. Smiling gently Cody caressed Ted’s cheek before cupping it, leaning forward and pressing their lips together lightly. “It’s OK love,” the senior vampire murmured, “Come here,” he opened his arms to Ted and the blonde immediately settled into Cody’s embrace. “Love you,” Ted murmured and Cody cried out softly as he was breached.

Once again their coupling was fast, rather animalistic, but that was only to be expected. Once again Cody found himself bitten and bruised, but admittedly he gave back as good as he got so it didn’t matter. They would both be healed before they had even come down from their highs after all. Afterwards, Ted lay back on the bed, drawing Cody into his arms and back against his chest, caressing Cody’s back and hair. “Cody.” The abrupt word drew the sire’s attention and he made a small sound of acknowledgement. “Always. This. Desperate?” For a moment Cody wondered whether he meant the food or the sex, so settled for a generic answer.

“Over time it’ll be easier,” Cody responded softly, then laughing softly, “But until that time comes you can satiate yourself on me on much as you like.” After all, he would be able to feed from packets again before too long in order to replenish himself. At least he assumed that from what he had garnered from everyone’s comments about the matter. Ted gave a small sound, something that sounded exactly like Ted’s old reluctant chuckle and Cody felt further assured at the noise, however brief and abrupt it was. “Won’t. Try not to. Too much,” something flashed in Ted’s expression and Cody felt the flicker of frustration from his childe.

Caressing Ted’s cheek gently Cody murmured, “It’s OK, Teddy, it’s Ok.” The words seemed to pacify Ted to some degree though the furrow of irritation in his brow remained. He might not remember directly after his change down to the most microscopic details but Cody remembered the resentment; he had often felt that he was a child almost, trapped in the body of a fully-grown man with the way he was treated and the way he had to learn to do everything anew again. He knew how Ted felt and knew that he couldn’t be offended or upset if Ted ever lashed out at him when the frustration got too much for him. Ted pressed a kiss to Cody’s fingertips.

For a moment everything seemed calm once again (and were they both not stark naked, the covers hanging messily off of the bed, their bodies still bearing evidence of their coupling) and Cody was quite prepared to take the chance to just do nothing at all in particular--- but the sound of the bedroom door unlocking from the outside had him sitting upright. This proved to be a tactical error because not only had Ted heard the sound of the key in the lock with his newly enhanced hearing, but he had also seemingly misunderstood the panicked expression on Cody’s face and through their bond. To Ted, on the other side of the door was _a threat_.


	25. An Unusual Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted integrates himself once again with his new clan brothers and adjusts to his status as a newborn

After John’s revelations and his own thoughts Randy had gone quiet, just continuing their growingly familiar trek around in the darkness. One hand was secured around John’s own as the other was placed on the back of his own neck, squeezing enough to leave finger-marks in his own flesh briefly but seemingly not enough to cause himself any discomfort. “I’m not sorry he’s gone,” Randy murmured and John caressed Randy’s knuckles with his thumb in a silent gesture of support for the other to continue, “But I wish you would have told me this sooner.” Both so he was forewarned and also so he could have had it in mind when they took Dave out.

“I know,” John said contritely, nodding his head in a manner that convinced Randy that the other was genuinely apologetic, though at the same time John wouldn’t actually apologise for keeping such knowledge to himself. It wasn’t as though he liked revisiting it, or wanted to expose his mate to it, and also he was just generally _used_ to keeping everything to himself. For so many years after he’d freed himself from the blood-stained shackles Dave had seemed determined to bind him in John had just kept himself to himself… and then he had met Randy, and everything had changed. Far from perfect was the process on how they got there, but now?

Now, John wouldn’t change a single thing about the life he was building for himself. He had a mate, someone who perfectly complimented and challenged him, and a clan that was willing to accept him as though he had been there all along--- even knowing now some of what he had done and where he had come from. “Sun’ll be up soon,” John murmured, sensing the small shift in the air that alerted them to the impending dawn, “We should go back inside.” Nodding slowly Randy followed John back into the manor, sighing gently to himself. You’d think that the older you got the lesser an affect shock would be able to have on you. _Apparently not._

That morning he and John fell into rest pretty early, but that was probably because they were both aware of what they had to do the following day. John had never seen a healthy childe right after the change, and he couldn’t deny he was curious… especially when it meant that he might have something newer, more positive to focus on instead of the images that had plagued his nightmares for decades. About an hour before sunset they both awoke, opening their eyes in perfect tandem and gazing at one another. Randy lay still, taking a moment to _feel_ each of his clan members throughout the house. They were all still resting, but soon the elder ones began to wake.

As Cody, and now Ted’s, awareness filtered through to Randy from his bond with them the brunette started to get out of bed. “You’ll come with me, right?” Randy asked. It wasn’t exactly concern that had spurred him to make such a request of John, but there was that underlying notion in the back of his mind that if something _had_ gone wrong he could do with all the help that he could get--- without alerting the rest of the clan sooner than need be. “Of course,” John responded without hesitation, climbing from their bed (i.e. their mattress on the floor, which would suffice for the next week until their new bed arrived) to get dressed too.

When they reached Ted and Cody’s floor Randy was only mildly surprised to see Evan standing some distance away from the door but focused on it. Randy was pretty sure that the younger had been forbidden by Chris to try and see Cody and Ted before it was deemed safe to do so, but since the little imp of a vampire was there it seemed that Chris hadn’t been _explicit enough_ in his suggestion to completely prevent Evan from trying to see his newest clan-brother. “Evan?” he arched a brow and Evan jumped, looking embarrassed, defiant and nervous all at once. The technicality that Randy wasn’t his sire didn’t mean Randy couldn’t punish him.

“Don’t you think you should go and see Chris before he finds out you’ve been here?” John asked, seemingly innocent enough and with his dimples appearing in his smile, but the way that Evan immediately responded to the suggestion meant that he wasn’t arrogant enough to try and refuse the unspoken command of his sire’s sire and grand-sire. Once Evan was safely out of sight Randy then reached into his pocket and pulled out the skeleton-key that opened every door of the manor before approaching the door slowly. He couldn’t hear anything inside but he could tell that both men were awake… and Cody was so _happy_ , if overwhelmed.

The first childe you changed always stuck with you, and Randy wondered whether that was why Kane had seemed determined to make a move against them even at the risk of escalating a clan-war the likes of which hadn’t been seen in millennia at least. And, well, it seemed right for him and John--- though the fact that he was both John’s mate and only child probably factored into the sentiment somewhere. Still, it was a probable theory and one he may need to discuss with Christian at length sometime; he was always the safest bet when it came to discussing things on a more academic nature, more inclined to be serious as he was.

Not to say that he couldn’t be a prankster when he wanted to be, but when you saw who he was mated to and the company he kept that wasn’t surprising in the slightest. Giving John a small look, seeing if his mate was ready –and giving himself an excuse to calm down for a moment- Randy then inserted the key into the lock and then turned it, hearing the tiny click of the lock opening. In the anticipation the sound seemed akin to a gunshot and had he been human his heart would probably have been pounding from adrenaline growing. Though he doubted even he’d have been a ballsy enough human to approach a vampire if he had still been human.

“Don’t open the door--!” the cry came not a second later and Randy barely had time to register the fact that both Cody and Ted were stark-bollock-naked, the room smelling of blood and sex, before something came barrelling towards him so fast that even his own eyes struggled to adjust. He braced himself just in time though for the collision, the sound of their bodies colliding echoing like two blocks of granite scraping against one another… or that could have been the huge chunk that came out of the wall when they went careening back into it. A growl of fury could be heard and Randy knew it was an involuntary response from John.

He knew that Ted wasn’t a real threat but the fact that someone, anyone had put their hands on Randy meant that he was inclined to deliver to them swift and painful retribution. In this instance though Ted backed off immediately, meaning that Randy was no longer in danger of Ted attempting to claw his eyes out under the misguided belief that someone was there to intrude upon him and his mate, to maybe attempt to cause them harm. He fell back, crouched low and in a defensive position, lips curled back from his fangs and his eyes dark and watchful--- though there was a fear there. Even newborns could sense the power in other vampires.

And, of course, in those standards to him John would seem an even bigger threat than Randy even though he understood too that Randy wasn’t someone he should write-off without care. “Wait!” Cody, completely oblivious to his own nakedness it seemed, came skidding into the hallway, placing himself between Randy, John and Ted. Immediately, with a growl that sounded a cross between concerned and angry, Ted was behind Cody, dragging his mate backwards somewhat. Randy could sense that clan’s curiosity about what was happening, but he hoped that they would all have the sense enough to keep out of the way at that point.

Thus far Ted was reacting better than expected, believe it or not, and he didn’t want anything to tip the delicate scales. Reaching behind him Cody placed his hands gently upon Ted’s body, turning his head enough to look at the blonde. Ted’s eyes meanwhile were fixated on John and Randy, his muscles bunched and tensed, ready to attack if they made the slightest move that he perceived as dangerous. It was then that Cody realised that Ted’s body felt like it _used to_ , back before his death had made the other lose his passion and appetite for food. Whether he actually _had_ returned to that state or whether Cody’s mind was playing tricks on him he didn’t know.

“Ted,” Cody started and the blonde vampire immediately turned his head to acknowledge his sire, though Cody knew he was still watching the other two through his peripheral vision. “It’s Ok,” Cody started, endeavouring to speak slowly and clearly. He wasn’t doing it to patronise Ted in any way, shape or form, but to help him adjust; especially when now the smallest thing would tip him more towards their inner-beast as opposed to the humanity that (most of them) retained upon their awakening. “This is my sire,” he started, pointing to Randy, “Randy. Remember Randy?” he asked, and something flickered in Ted’s expression briefly once again.

“Randy…” Ted murmured, not relaxing too much but at least he was no longer snarling at them so viciously. “That’s right,” Cody praised and the blonde vampire shifted slightly, preening even from that small praise from his mate and sire, “And that’s his mate, John. Do you remember John?” Once again Ted’s expression scrunched up, making him look adorable and confused, and Cody just wanted to hug him. Later he would, but right then they had to focus some more. He needed to make it so Ted could scent John and Randy, to further supplement whatever memories he might have of them as of yet, but if he’d lash out every time they moved that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.

~:~

“I…” Ted frowned, shaking his head not to indicate a lack of recognition but because the words weren’t lining up in his mind. He _thought_ he _might_ remember, the recollection was scratching at his brain but it wasn’t coming. The whole business was so _frustrating_ that he thought he might scream if his mind didn’t start to co-operate with him. John looked familiar and he thought he knew the name but the thing he most remembered was Cody. 

“Remember anyone?” asked Randy casually, more used to this kind of thing. The memory was a funny thing when combined with the trauma of dying. For the most part all of his children had struggled to remember who anyone was, although Chris had thought he was twenty-three and supposed to be at a gig in Memphis for three nights straight even with the blood drinking and Hunter’s memory never had come all the way back. It had taken a month before he suddenly remembered he had been married prior to his change.

Ted frowned. “Ethan,” he said after a pause, with some effort, his eyes never losing the distrustful expression or leaving the elder vampires, although Cody kept his hand on Ted’s chest to prevent him making any further attempts on them. “And – Dave?”

John scowled. “Oh great, remembers him though?”

Ted’s eyes narrowed and Randy stepped in. “Probably normal that he’d remember that, since it’s another recent trauma.” He looked Ted in the eyes, working a little of his sire compulsion on the younger vampire, although he wasn’t sure he felt good about doing so – he had always been cautious about how much of that he did to his own children and it wasn’t his place to do so when it came to Cody’s. “I’m gonna give you my wrist, okay? And then John will. You get our scents and then you’ll know us when you come across us again. We’ve all got to live in the same house. And we can get to the others later, no point in overwhelming him.” That last addressed to Cody, who was looking wary himself, sending protective vibes that one didn’t have to be a vampire to sense.

Ted withdrew almost imperceptibly and Cody stroked his chest. “It’ll be okay babe. You remember how they did the same thing to you when you first got here?”

For a moment Ted looked confused, on the verge of recalling it, then shook his head slightly. “Not likely right away,” said Randy, stretching his hand toward Ted as he would to a dog he wasn’t entirely sure wouldn’t bite him. “It’s okay Ted, it’s entirely normal for our species.”

Ted gave him a rather suspicious look, then seized his hand and inhaled Randy’s skin. Randy wouldn’t have minded being bitten so much, he’d heal, but it would be a bad sign and so he was relieved when Ted merely dropped his hand and stilled completely. John did the same thing and although it took a little longer for Ted to accept it, eventually he did and repeated the action.

“We’ll give you some peace,” said Randy calmly, best not to get Ted het up at the moment. The frustration that came along with death trauma made it likely that Ted would lash out when he got angry, even if it wasn’t especially like him when he was in his right mind.

The two men walked from the room and Cody decided it might be wise to lock it behind them, although it wasn’t as if Ted couldn’t just break it down if he was that way inclined. “You did really well baby,” he said encouragingly, trying to remember how it had been for him in those first few shaky weeks. More than once he had made a break for it, breaking through things, even trying to get past his clan in spite of the instinctive shying away from one who was stronger. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Ted had tried to defend him from a perceived threat. Instinct was always stronger in newborns, before they learned the correct behaviours.

He took Ted’s hand and led him back to the bed, making a quick decision. “Tell you what babe,” he said, sprawling on the bed and being unsurprised when Ted also lay on the bed and curled into his side. A human Ted would have been mortified to have been caught naked and with the evidence of a rough coupling still drying on his skin, but it didn’t even seem to have occurred to him at that point. Cody brushed a hand through Ted’s blonde hair and started to talk, reminiscing about their past relationship. Ted listened, completely still with his eyes fixed on his lover as Cody talked at length, telling about the first time they’d met, his thoughts and feelings at the time, little memories that meant little to anyone except for those who had shared them. His glances at Ted showed the smile curling on his face, the occasional nod as something clicked for him. Later on they would have to wash, not just to get clean but to hydrate themselves better, but for the moment he was content to remind Ted of why and how they had fallen in love and help his fiancé out in any way he could.

~:~

“I should’ve seen that one coming,” said Randy with a rueful smile as he and John walked away from Cody’s room. “It’s that whole _threat_ instinct coming in and it’s not like he would have recognised our scents.”

“Did Evan do the same thing?” asked John curiously.

“He might have done but Chris seemed to see it coming better. He invested in handcuffs.” Randy shook his head with a grin. “Kinky bastard.”

John laughed and at that moment Evan himself reappeared, a rather hopeful look on his face. “How’s Ted doing?”

“He’s not really ready for visitors,” said Randy dryly. “He remembered you though.”

Evan beamed and Chris emerged from the room behind him, overhearing the last comment. “How was he going to forget Ev?” he asked casually, putting a hand on the small of Evan’s back. John didn’t share a bond with Chris but he was conscious that the man seemed relieved. He wondered how much it would have affected each of them if something had gone wrong – it had been them who had spoken briefly to each and while making them aware of the risks, might have given the impression that it would certainly be okay in the end.

Randy looked at the younger man – Evan hadn’t ever struggled to talk himself out of the vampire habit of stillness, he was naturally a fidget and it was only when he was very focused or very worried that he attained that immobility that was natural to most of them. “You seem even more excitable than usual,” he commented.

“This is pretty good news for me,” said Evan, a little hesitantly since it sounded a little like he was being selfish to his own ears, although there had been no intention of that. “I’m still getting control of everything and now Ted is too, so we can learn at the same time. It might even be easier with the two of us doing it. We can urge each other on!”

“Like a gym buddy?” asked John, sounding amused. “You’re both at different stages though, won’t that make it a little harder?”

“Not if we don’t let it,” said Evan, a little defensively. “Because I’ve got no pressing reason to want to be out without a chaperone and neither does Ted, not like it was with Cody, so even though I’ve got a headstart he’ll probably be able to catch up.” He smirked. “Besides, I get the feeling that Ted’s the competitive type.”

Randy chuckled. “Yeah, all my children seem to choose to turn someone who’s gonna be cheeky to me,” he said, feigning a cuff at Evan that the younger easily ducked. Chris tensed at the motion but allowed it, years of trust and training overcoming his instinct on that one. Had he done the same to Cody, there was a chance that Ted would remove his arm and insert it somewhere interesting, at first at least.

“I think you should be proud of their impeccable taste,” replied Evan with a grin that faded a little as he looked in the direction of Ted and Cody’s door. “I hope he’s okay. It’s really freaky to wake up and not be able to properly remember anything.”

“He remembered Cody,” replied Randy comfortingly. “The rest of it’ll come with time.”

~:~

That time, as it happened, was two weeks later. And even then it seemed to be the most recent things Ted could recall; long-term information still posed something of a challenge for him. It was hard, but not as hard as it had been, and for that Ted was grateful. He hadn’t truly realised how frightening it was to not remember until he’d started to remember, though Ted was sure no one would really get what he meant were he to explain it.

The speech thing had taken more time, though the more his mind recovered and he therefore could take stock of this off change, the more embarrassed about it Ted was. Cody was pacifying him with constant reassurances that they all went through it and it was nothing to be ashamed of, but it was still difficult for Ted to adjust to it. His new strength and heightened senses hadn’t really had much to do since he’d been confined to the bedroom, but even then he could tell that things _were_ different than they had been before.

And, including that, he supposed their sex-life could fall into it. Back when they had both been human they liked to believe they had quite the active, adventurous sex-life, but ‘active-sex’ took on a whole new meaning now. Such was Ted’s strength now, the blonde had really experienced to a greater extent when he had actually taken Cody so hard against his desk that he had broken it, he had merely continued to hold the other up without any strain at all until he’d achieved his own ends. It had definitely been quite the novel occasion for the pair of them.

It was still frightening to Ted though, that he couldn’t control his urges as well as he thought he was. Sexually, emotionally, when he was feeding… It was all so new and so _overwhelming_ that even with Cody there he sometimes felt lost, as though there could be _more_ he was doing to regulate himself. Steadily but surely Cody monitored his progress closely and eventually seemed to judge his efforts as acceptable enough to enable him to get reintroduced to the other members of the clan. It was strange; he remembered them and yet he didn’t as well.

The night Cody coaxed Ted from the safe haven of their bedroom they had both showered and changed (getting Ted into clothing again had taken several days but Cody would be lying if he’d said he minded that even slightly) before Cody gave Ted a final reassuring pep-talk and gentle kiss. Unlocking and opening the door to their bedroom Cody then placed one arm securely, supportively, around Ted’s waist and led him out. The hallway was empty, quiet, but Ted knew that this was deceiving; people were in the house.

“Come on baby,” Cody cooed softly, Ted walking slowly and almost hesitantly down the hallway. The new colours and details of a changling’s eyes were shocking at first and their attention-span wasn’t much better; Cody took things slowly to give Ted chance to adjust, didn’t expect him that he’d be able to focus on their initial task at hand right away. Steadily but surely they walked down the hallway and then to the top of the stairs, Cody’s arm around Ted all the time, and his senses honed on keeping tabs of their housemates.

As per usual everyone was in the living-room, but Cody could smell the scent of micro-warmed blood and knew that someone had been in the kitchen recently, or was even in their now. The closer they got to the living-room door the tenser Ted became. It was a perfectly natural for him to be anxious; mentally he knew he knew these people, and that they were no threat to him, but instinctively the fact that there were others of the species around (and more powerful members of the species at that) was enough to set them on alert no matter what logic said.

“It’s Ok,” Cody murmured softly, brushing his lips over Ted’s temple, the blonde pressing his face into Cody’s neck and inhaling his scent in a manner that Cody knew was to reassure him of his presence and the subconscious expectation that his sire would protect him were something to go wrong in this ‘reunion’. Not that he expected it would but, well… he recalled how he’d reacted to Randy and John, so he wasn’t overly confident in himself then. Despite numerous reassurances from Cody that they understood Ted was still mortified by the mere thought of it.

As they reached the living-room door Cody glanced at Ted with a placating look once more before pushing the large doors open slowly, no sound coming from inside the room other than the comedy show that seemed to be playing on the TV screen. Cody knew it was the anticipation of their arrival that had stopped any conversation that had been happening in the room, but Cody wished that they could have carried on--- it would probably be less unnerving for Ted if they had, as he wouldn’t be the centre of attention.

Though it had never really been in Ted’s nature to be timid, being confronted by the clan, bar John and Randy since he had their scents, Ted found himself moving to try and place Cody’s body before his own. It was an odd reflex though, to put Cody as his shield, because he was sure that if someone _did_ make a motion even mildly threatening towards Cody then he would have been in there like a shot to protect him. He tensed, looking at each man slowly. John and Randy were sat, mugs in hand, in their usual seat. Same with Christian, Adam, Hunter and Shawn.

Chris had actually just gotten rid of his own mug, and Evan had had some as soon as he had awoken. It was apparently subconsciously soothing for a newborn to see the others drinking, and to have its companions drinking packet-blood was also a subliminal encouragement for them to follow the pattern when offered the choice. For several long moments no one moved, but then, unsurprisingly, Evan made a slow approach towards them. He too was instinctively crouched low to the ground, but it was more for safety’s sake than perceiving a real threat.

Chris was also on alert, ready to intervene should Evan try too much too soon with Ted, or also on behalf of protecting his mate. He doubted that their concern was needed but he was old enough and wise enough to know that the second one let their guard down (even around someone you believed you knew) was when something happened. Cody slowly stepped aside, and Ted clutched at him, but Cody merely took his hands gently and allowed Evan a better access to the blonde. “Ted?” Evan spoke softly, smiling tentatively.

“Evan,” Ted returned the name familiar on his tongue. The smile that he was sent was so bright that Ted almost flinched back, but then he stopped, staring at Evan’s face. He had his image in mind, had been reflecting on everyone since he’d begun remembering them, but it seemed… like he was remembering _wrong,_ like he didn’t have enough detail. He didn’t remember, for example, that small scar on Evan’s forehead, just underneath his hair-line, or the almost invisible bunch of freckles that he had smattered across the bridge of his nose.

Suddenly, all at once, Ted was hit with the realisation that it wasn’t that he’d _forgotten_ anything, but more that he hadn’t been able to _see_ quite that in-depth before. Startled by this sudden revelation Ted then slowly looked from Evan to Chris, seeing the few lines of age and lifestyle indulgence that he had had before passing, and an assortment of other scars and marks on the others. John’s though… that was the most startling given that which Ted could see since the other was dressed. And no, he didn’t mean that to sound even remotely pervy.

 _Scars_. That was all Ted could see on John’s exposed arms. The muscle that he had once believed to be smooth and unblemished was actually littered with an assortment of overlapping and intertwining scars and healed cuts. They varied in size and shape, but it was obvious which ones had been more detrimental to the man’s health than others. Without realising it he clutched Cody tighter, his chest feeling tight, as he wondered what other ‘secrets’ he might be confronted with now that he was seeing the world from a whole new, unnerving perspective.

~:~

They all recognised the signs that Ted was noticing more about his surroundings and the people around him – it crept up on them when they had first been turned; mostly they spent the first few days in the same place with the same person or people and were too busy noticing the changes and hunger they had, or reacquainting themselves with a mate, to realise how much sharper their senses were until they were confronted with something that had once been familiar. He was staring at them all as if they had grown extra heads, a reaction that the older ones in particular were all very familiar with. It was nice in a way, most of them had gotten used to their special abilities long before and it was almost like seeing the experience through fresh eyes once more.

Cody pulled Ted to the middle of the room and the blonde had a sudden sense of _déjà vu_ as the rest of the clan rose to allow Ted to get their scent in a complete reversal of the first time he had done it, when they were scenting him. Ted could recall how unnerved he had been at the time and he was equally as uncertain now, but he obediently got the scent of all of them, although he wasn’t at all sure that he’d be able to recognise them by it. It wasn’t something that seemed likely judging by his human experience, although Cody had seemed to know certain peoples locations by smell so maybe he could learn. At least this time no one was likely to pick up on the pounding of his heart because it didn’t seem to beat anymore, giving Ted endless fascination when he took his own pulse. It was all taking a _lot_ of getting used to.

That over with (including a cheeky comment from Adam that had made Cody growl quietly and Christian smack his mate upside the head), Cody guided Ted over to the couch and sat down with him, Ted’s hand immediately seeking the reassurance of his. Although it was a natural gesture between sire and childe, Cody hoped that Ted regained some of his old confidence soon. It was slightly weird to see Ted so reliant on him so obviously.

“I’ll get you both a drink,” said Evan, as if he were off to make the coffee and took off toward the kitchen before Cody could comment. Well, they had to do it at some time he decided, might as well get it out of the way. Although what Ted would think about drinking packaged blood from an unknown source he wasn’t sure. Ted could be oddly fastidious about certain things and the blood he ingested was likely to be one of them.

Ted himself was looking at the television through narrowed eyes. Christian noticed it and chuckled. “Not too dull for you now, eh Ted?”

“You kept on saying that we had the brightness too low,” Cody told him when Ted looked blank. “Your eyes weren’t so good as ours but that means that the light needed to be higher for you. Now your eyes are sharper but the light might irritate them.”

“Is that why we stay out of the sun?” asked Ted.

“Not quite,” said Randy, shooting Cody a look that asked why he hadn’t been through this already. Cody sent him one back that said he _had_ and Randy accepted it – probably Cody had said it before the transformation and although the lesson had stayed, the reasons might not have done. “We’re sensitive to it, it burns our skin. And our eyes of course, but if you don’t want a quick lesson in how fast it takes you to recover from being burned to ash in ten seconds flat, take our advice and stay out of it.”

Ted looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I have to,” he said rather slowly and clearly as he sometimes still did when he was trying to voice something he still wasn’t entirely sure of how to articulate. “I fall asleep at dawn.”

Cody gave a little snort of laughter that he tried to hide with a cough, which fooled no one since he hadn’t actually coughed since he’d been turned. Secretly he was just proud that Ted was doing damned well with the speech issues. It was so often slow to come back and it was expressing themselves that was the hardest part of it all.

Evan returned with a cup in either hand, the scent of blood making Ted’s nostrils flare and his head turn with all of his vampiric speed. It was moments like this that Cody saw something new in his eyes, the predator that they were made to be. It wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Cody knew that he too had those moments and he was sure that Ted hadn’t always known what to make of them back when he was human. Rather than make any comment he merely took the cup that Evan offered him and noticed that Ted did the same, rather hesitantly. In spite of the blood and Ted’s lack of control on these occasions he seemed rather confused and suspicious of the contents and when Cody looked around, he noticed that the others were watching Ted and pretending not to. Weird and he didn’t know what to make of it at all. He didn’t remember this part happening to him… and then he _did_ remember, not because of something he had done but because something _Evan_ had done.

Ted swished the liquid around in the cup, then  sniffed it cautiously before taking a sip. Immediately his face screwed up into a grimace. _“Ewgh!”_ he said, not only sounding a hundred per cent human but also as if he were about five years old and had been offered sprouts instead of ice cream.

There was general laughter from the gathered vampires, Cody reluctantly grinning too although what he really wanted to do was take a picture of Ted looking like that – it was adorable, although Ted would have objected to the word even when he was human.

Ted shot them all a suspicious look as if he suspected he was at the butt of some joke. Randy shook his head but the smile was still on his face. “Sorry Ted, but it’s kinda amusing to watch the first time… thing is, you’ve been used to Cody’s blood and your mates blood tastes better than anything. After that, the packet stuff tastes – well, it takes some getting used to. You do need to get used to it though. Even mates can’t exist only on one another’s blood, especially if you’ve just been turned.”

“I don’t remember you laughing at me the first time I took a drink,” said Cody.

“We didn’t,” Hunter cut in. “It’s only someone whose mate’s already fed them it works with. You didn’t have a comparison, you just drank.”

“You were _boring_ ,” added Shawn with a twinkle in his eye, the double act the pair had always been showing clearly.

“But Ted is a vampire of more refined tastes,” finished Hunter with a smirk.

“So Shawn was more refined than you?” asked Cody sweetly, which shut the pair up a moment. It was no secret that Hunter had been rich and pampered prior to his turn and Shawn had been far less so. Out of all of them it was Hunter who was the most used to being spoiled, Cody realised, although Chris probably came a close second having made his fortune and had people pandering to him just because he could sing.

Randy completely ignored the interruption. “You’d only be sharing the same blood over and over and using up all the nutrients,” he explained. “That’s why you need to top up occasionally, for both your sakes.”

Ted took another sip of the blood, spurred on now that he knew it was beneficial to Cody as well as to himself, but he didn’t look overly enthralled with the second taste either. Cody chuckled and drank himself. It hadn’t gone so well for him just before Ted had been turned, but with Ted’s blood running through his veins it stayed in his stomach, although it tasted bland after the rich, heady, exotic taste that filled his mouth when he was feeding from Ted. There was nothing erotic about feeding this way either.

“Think of it as veggies,” said Evan with a grin. “Or soup. That’s how I do it, though I’d far rather get my blood from the source.” He buried his face into Chris’s neck making nom-nom sounds and Ted was startled into almost laughing. Cody’s hand found his thigh and squeezed, causing Ted to glance at him with the smile still on his face. Cody could sense that Ted was starting to relax, feel a part of things. He wondered if it would take long before Ted felt entirely part of the clan – he knew that Ted had never quite felt like one of them when he had been human. Understandable given that he hadn’t been able to go out chasing Dave with them, but not necessarily accurate.

“Has Cody been through all the stuff you have to learn about?” asked Evan, earning himself a couple of annoyed looks from those who thought he might be pushing Ted too much with his questions, or taking on something that was Cody’s jurisdiction.

“Some,” replied Ted, the cup still held awkwardly in his hands. He was clearly trying not to exert too much pressure on it, since it would be very easy for him to merely squeeze it a little too hard and a moment later have blood and porcelain all over the place. Evan had considered using a plastic or metal container but decided it would be too patronising.

“We’ll both be learning that stuff,” said Evan, sounding a little more pleased about it than anyone would have expected. Chris hadn’t realised until watching Evan with Ted but it seemed that his lover had felt worse than he ever let on about the time it was taking him to be considered safe. “I can teach you how to fidget and you can teach me how to focus on the small things.” He indicated to the cup Ted held. “How long was it before I could do _that_?”

“You only broke a couple of glasses and who hasn’t done that?” Chris gave his mate a reassuring look. “Focusing on the small stuff is hard.”

“Harder for some than others,” grumbled Evan. “Have you broken anything?”

“The—“ Ted frowned and made a gesture to indicate the desk, not that he was going to admit _how_ it had been broken.

“Desk,” Cody said gently, although he would have blushed had he been able.

“Uh-huh.” Ted considered. “Three brushes, some _other_ brushes for uh…” He mimicked brushing his teeth with a frown that showed how stupid he felt for forgetting the right word. “The door to the cupboard and the wall. Some clothes.” He didn’t confess that he wasn’t supposed to turn on any taps without Cody watching him, so that they didn’t have to call in workmen to fix it while they were without a human to deal with it. He probably didn’t have to confess to all that he had done, but the part of him that was still very much Ted liked Evan and didn’t want him to feel bad that Ted might have gotten that part faster than the other had been able to master.

“Evan,” Chris chided lightly. It really wasn’t polite to put Ted on the spot like that but he could understand his own lovers frustration – there had been Cody learning at the same time but he had been further along than Evan was even now and although he’d been nice, he’d hardly been helpful, working with a single-minded determination toward being trusted by his sire so that he could see Ted again. it seemed to have worked for him though.

Hunter laughed suddenly. “When Shawn was first turned, he got so pissed off over breaking stuff that he threw a chamber pot at my head.”

Cody and Evan both burst out laughing and Shawn smirked. “I’m a _good_ aim,” he commented over the chuckles. “Broke it right in his face.”

Cody looked over at Ted who was looking a little blank and whispered in his ear, explaining what a chamber-pot was. Ted’s lips quirked into a smile when he realised what the item in question was used for and Cody turned his attention back to Shawn. “Why did you have one of _those_ around? 

“I _had_ been human until then and there wasn’t such a thing as indoor plumbing then.” Shawn shrugged. “I had a lot of human stuff left over. I guess you’re the same. Ha, you should have seen it, Hunter was _pissed_.”

“I’m just pleased it wasn’t full,” Hunter replied mildly. Cody somehow doubted it had been such an amusing anecdote at the time or for several years afterward, Hunter held a grudge sometimes (he was still mad over some feud with another landowner he’d argued with when he was still alive and _that_ guy had died not too long after he had; there was also the man who he’d later discovered married his wife barely two years after he had been assumed gone forever, that _still_ burned him). Shawn had always been forgiven a lot though, which was good since they had a lot of time to spend together over the past and coming years.

“I thought I was high,” Chris added with a smirk.

“And we brought him all the clippings about him dying,” added Adam, sounding a bit put out. “Took him ages to believe me.”

“Hey, all those clippings said I’d been abducted by aliens and resurrected to impregnate hot alien chicks,” said Chris with an easy grin. “Or that I’m hanging out with Morrison and Presley on a farm in Wales.”

“I didn’t believe we couldn’t fly,” Christian said rather shamefacedly. “I kept jumping off stuff and flapping my arms.”

Shawn burst into delighted laughter. “I’d forgotten about that! Damn, it really sent _you_ crazy for a while.”

“He kept saying that we just weren’t trying hard enough,” said Adam fondly.

“We all went a little nuts when we were newborn,” said Shawn. “But you get over it.”

Randy laughed. “And don’t make out like it was just your mates. Hunter over there thought it was good form to keep trying to get hold of his money and his house—“

“I forgot all about the wife!”

Ted blinked. “Wife?”

“Different times Ted,” said Hunter casually. “A man in my position had to be married otherwise people started to talk. That it was true didn’t make it better, made it sorta worse actually. It’s wasn’t like it is today.” He considered. “I’m _glad_ to still be around to see how it is today. I’ve still got descendants running around y’know.”


	26. Hollywood Would Hate It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life continues on for the vampire Clan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter!
> 
> Apologies for the mass upload of chapters, but there wasn't too much left so I thought I'd just finish off. Many thanks to all of our kind readers for keeping on with our works, and keep an eye out for future works being posted! :)

“Really?” Ted asked and Hunter nodded, though didn’t elaborate further. When you had a lot of time on your hands and were as continual as they were, it was only natural to want to keep an eye on your bloodline. He had quite a few descendants scattered around and he checked in on them now and again. They didn’t know this of course, but it was reassuring to the vampire to know that his genes hadn’t been completely eradicated from the world.

“Do any of you have descendants?” Cody asked, slightly in awe himself since this was the first time that he had heard of such a thing. John shook his head; he’d been murdered before he’d ever got around to anything like that, Evan wasn’t old enough, neither were he and Ted though all three of them had family left. Chris shrugged slightly; he’d been pretty distant from his few relatives even before he’d died so he wouldn’t know. Shawn nodded, though confessed he didn’t know how many, Randy said no and Christian and Adam both said no.

“It’s quite sad really isn’t it?” Evan asked, though he’d never really considered anything like that. He didn’t have to worry about carrying on the family line because of his sibling, and his mother; she hadn’t been that old when she had run away and left him after all, there was every chance she could have started a new family. Cody had two older siblings and his sister had had a child already when he’d passed, and Ted’s elder brother had two children he believed the last he’d heard of them. That could have changed recently, but Ted hadn’t said.

Chris looked at his mate uncertainly, wondering if Evan was somehow feeling broody. He hadn’t wanted kids (he hadn’t disliked them or anything like that he had just never wanted them for himself. That and his lifestyle was hardly conducive to rearing babies anyway) but Evan had only been young when he’d turned, he could have wanted them. It could have been something he’d wanted eventually even if it hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind at the time. Evan however merely smiled at him unassumingly, giving Chris’ hand a small squeeze.

Randy, disliking the sudden sombre mood that had come up then said, “So, how exactly did you break the desk?” the smirk on his face though said he’d known exactly what they had done. Cody could have flushed if he’d been able, Ted giving that coy, embarrassed look he had always had, though his usual bright blush was missing from his apple-like cheeks. “At least the desk was ours!” Cody said, pointing a finger at a frantically head-shaking Christian and a wolfishly grinning Adam, “They broke one of the communal pool-tables when they did it that time!”

“And they didn’t even have the excuse of one of them being a newborn to fall back on,” Randy snickered and Hunter pulled a face at him. “You’re hardly one for commenting on where people will do it, Randy,” he pointed out and Randy stuck his tongue out at him. He then sent Hunter his best innocent look, “You told me I could use the car… you just didn’t specify that I had to just drive around in it.” Hunter shuddered exaggeratedly and then looked at John with mild accusation in his face, “I had expected better from _you_ at least, John.”

“We paid for you to get the car valeted,” John pointed out, then chuckling when it seemed that Ted had caught up to what they were implying, the blonde looking mildly flustered and uncertain at the same time. He’d always been pretty conservative and now everything was so uncertain it seemed he was retreating back behind it as some sort of shield because he was afraid of doing something wrong. He’d soon be back to his old self though--- well, as much as any of them could ever go back to being their old selves after the change.

Cody gave Ted a small squeeze as he noticed a sort of shadow passing over Ted’s face, and the blonde seemed confused for a moment before then turning and smiling at him lightly. He was fine, and he wanted Cody to know that, it was just… the talk of kin had reminded him of his family, and he found himself wondering how they were reacting to his letters. In a way he couldn’t believe he had forgotten something as important as that. Were they angry with him? Were they upset? Maybe one day he’d be able to look in on them all again.

But, strangely, he didn’t _miss them_ the way he thought he would. Sure, he was sad that he wouldn’t see them anymore really, but he had prepared for this and… it was difficult to explain. The fact that they’d never know the truth about what had happened to him did make him feel a little guilty but at the same time he knew if he was taken back the past few weeks and offered the chance to turn again, he’d do it. He wondered what Justin would say if he found out that Ted had been turned before he had… _Justin. Werewolves._

He just hoped that because he was no longer able to be about in the day that wouldn’t mean he couldn’t talk to Justin again, though he had already sussed out that he wasn’t going to be allowed near him for quite a while. Distractedly he lifted the mug to his lips, forcing the last of the rather bland, thick liquid down his throat. _“It just gets worse!”_ he groaned and the other assembled vampires laughed once more, shaking their heads in amusement. “Definitely a man with refined tastes,” Adam pretended to swoon and Cody flipped him off.

When Ted leant forward to place the mug down though, he ended up putting it down with a bit more force than was necessary (completely by accident of course) and ended up putting the mug through the wooden coffee-table instead. For several long moments no one moved, everyone looking at the mug laid on the carpet, the handle broken off and the small circle of wood that lay underneath the broken ceramic. Before anyone could say anything to Ted though, he was up and out of the room, Cody hot on his heels, motioning for everyone else to stay.

It took him mere moments to locate Ted even though he had used his increased speed to retreat right back up to their bedroom, knelt on the floor with his face buried in his arms leant on the bed. Cody would have thought he was crying if he knew Ted to do that, or could still do so. Slowly, knowing Ted would sense his presence but not wanting to accidentally startle him even so, Cody moved up to his lover and then knelt down beside him as he wrapped his arms around Ted’s middle, “Why’d you run away baby?” he asked him softly.

“I can’t… believe I did that,” Ted said, though Cody knew the hesitancy this time had nothing to do with his mind struggling to remember the words but because his emotions were currently overriding him. It was something else that they had to contend with on top of learning to adjust to their urges and becoming more human, though technically Cody supposed the emotions would fall-in alongside urges. “It… It was putting a mug on a table,” Ted had yet to look up at him and Cody wished he would; it was never a good sign when Ted refused to look at him.

 _“Why couldn’t I do it?”_ the broken, bitter tone sounded exactly like the one Evan had sometimes whenever he did something accidental to break something or he lost control, and Cody was once again sorry that he had been so consumed by his own desire to see Ted again that he hadn’t noticed how his clan brother was truly struggling to adjust. It was funny how he’d never noticed it before but from that night and a few past instances it suddenly seemed _so obvious_ that he felt like a complete and utter toss-pot for overlooking it.

“Honey,” Cody nuzzled his nose against Ted’s throat in a gentle gesture and felt Ted shiver, knowing that the other was completely focused on him even though he wouldn’t look up still, “Baby, it’s _completely fine_. I told you, remember? I said things might be hard for a while, but everyone else had been through it as well, they know what you’re going through. _I’ve_ been through what you’re going through. We all _understand_ and no one’s ever going to be angry at you over it. It was only a mug and a table Teddy; they’re just things, they’re easily replaced.”

The other’s posture was still rather stiff and unrelenting, so unmoving that he looked like a living statue. Of course Cody had always thought that Ted had a body that made Michael Angelo’s ‘David’ look like an anorexic drug-addict, but right then… Well. It was hard to say really. Maybe it was because he knew the real power that Ted now held in his body that was giving Cody a brand-new insight to it, he didn’t know, but something in seeing Ted posed like that made him look so strong and yet so heartbreakingly vulnerable at the same time.

Nuzzling Ted again Cody then began to gently nibble, not breaking the skin or even leaving a mark, on the area where he had fed off of Ted both to enable his change and also the subsequent times since he had then fed on the other. Ted tensed again but for a whole new reason this time and soon, obviously reading the wishes of his lover and sire, Ted started to loosen his poster, hands reaching and drawing Cody into his lap and holding him tightly. Tight enough that Cody’s ribs were squeezed by the pressure, but it didn’t hurt.

The rather hazy look on Ted’s face when Cody finally left his neck alone made the ravenette grin internally, pleased with himself. It was still odd to get used to this whole ‘sire/childe’ business, and the new power that he had over Ted (he didn’t want to abuse it accidentally, or make Ted a mindless drone by mistake, but he _did_ want to learn enough to be able to use his newfound abilities for the positive) but it seemed that he was beginning to understand some of the influence he held over Ted even if it was only a rather small piece.

“Theodore, look at me,” Cody said softly, hands cupping Ted’s cheeks from where he still sat astride Ted’s lap, oblivious to the bedroom door being open, “You don’t need to feel bad when you make mistakes. You’re still learning, like Evan said. You’ve got each other there to help get used to things. Hell, even I’m still learning sweetie. Please, don’t beat yourself up about every little thing.” That was a tall order though and he knew it; Ted had worried about everything to the point of giving himself premature grey hairs even back when he’d been a human.

For a moment Ted looked hesitant and then he nodded slowly, a small sharp movement, but it was enough to reassure Cody. Smiling, the sire then pressed his lips against his mate’s, a small purring growl sounding from his throat when Ted’s lips immediately parted and allowed his tongue to slip in and caress his own… and his fangs, which had suddenly made the kiss more crowded again. When they pulled apart Ted jumped suddenly, clutching Cody tightly to him when there was a small, tentative knock on their open bedroom door Evan stood there.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, clearly concerned for both of them though Cody knew more of that concern would now be given to Ted. Despite the fact that Cody and Evan had been changed relatively close together the fact that Cody was now a sire meant that he sort of outranked Evan even though the other had been changed before him, and because they had Ted as their newest arrival it would be in Evan’s instincts to view Ted like a younger brother. There were a lot of familial undertones in their species despite them traditionally being loners.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Cody smiled, getting off of Ted’s lap and then helping his lover to his feet. Ted hung his head slightly when he saw Evan, clearly mortified with what he had done downstairs even if he was no longer blaming himself for it as Cody had suggested to him. “We’re alright now, right Teddy?” Cody asked giving his lover a small nudge and Ted nodded jerkily. Cody sent Evan a mildly helpless look, unsure what more he could do, but Evan merely waved a hand; he still had moods like this himself and it was just best to let him be.

“If it makes you feel better,” he did input though, wanting to try and bring the other up again sooner, “I took the door right off of the wall the first time I tried to open it.” Ted’s head lifted then, his head tilting to one side as his brows rose slightly in a silent question. Evan looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck and gently scuffed his foot against the floor. If you didn’t know better you’d barely thing he was out of his teens, or that he was _technically_ a bloodthirsty undead denizen of the night. “Yeah, I was angry, and tried to open the door…”

He demonstrated by running his hand over the side of the door where the hinges were, “And I pulled it, and a good chunk of the wall, right off, holding it in my hand. It took me a long time to get over that.” He’d even (though he wouldn’t be saying this to Ted because he knew the other would probably do exactly as he had) refused to touch _Chris_ for several days, the irrational fear of hurting the other consuming him even though their wild, rampant lovemaking had thus-far not given Chris any permanent injuries… and Evan knew he had _really_ let loose on him.

“Besides,” he added cheerily, “That’s the 34th coffee-table that we’ve had in that room since we’ve moved in.” And, believe it or not, they had only been in that house less than five years. For the longest time their clan had been nomadic, but by the time Evan had come into the picture Randy had been of the opinion that they should settle down. And, since they were so out-of-the-way and not many people knew of them to live there, chances were they could live there undisturbed for a long time. “Five years?” Ted repeated, and even Cody looked surprised.

~:~

“We’re heavy on coffee tables,” said Evan, with what Ted thought was deliberate misunderstanding. “The guys, they hit it to make a point or when they’re angry and it just shatters, or they go to jump it and mistimed it – for a bunch of vampires, they do that a lot. Or they kick it when they’re playing on the Wii and knock the legs off, or—“

“And you never do any of those things, right?” said Ted with a smirk that Cody was glad to see.

“That’s not even the point,” added Cody. “I didn’t realise they’d only been here that long.”

Evan shrugged. “Chris mentioned it. Before that they were just wandering, they’d rent places out for a while or find somewhere that had no one living there. I asked Chris about it but you know what he’s like, he sees things as normal when they’re really not and the older ones are even worse for it. You tell them something’s weird and even though they know it’s not done that way anymore, they don’t always get why you’d think it’s strange.”

“True that,” agreed Cody. “Did they say why they never settled down before?”

“I managed to get some of it out of Chris,” said Evan, taking a seat on the end of their bed and making himself at home. “People didn’t used to move around so much, so a group of men living in the same place with no women around raised eyebrows and when they weren’t around during the day, people noticed. They noticed when none of them aged. People got more into each other’s business then and they didn’t set so much stock in looking young so it was all very Dorian Grey when they were still changeless after ten years.”

“Don’t people still notice all that now?” asked Ted.

“Yeah, but not so much. They don’t really care and if they do notice, they put it down to botox and a really good gym.” He laughed suddenly. “Chris says that in the late seventies and early eighties they were in Seattle and Randy decided to leave when someone asked who his surgeon was.”

Both Cody and Ted broke out laughing, just imagining what Randy had to say about _that_ question. He’d probably been completely outraged.

“I still don’t get it though.” Cody frowned a little. “We’re settled now. Does that mean that we’ll have to move on in ten years or so?”

“Maybe not,” replied Evan. “Think about it. We’re pretty well out of the way here, no close neighbours but we’re close enough to a damned big town and another hour from the city. We’ve no reason to go to the same places all the time and travel’s much easier for us now than back thirty years ago even. More cars on the road means less attention paid to us. Single men are more common and homosexuals are out more, one less reason for us to stand out. Most places are twenty-four hours so we don’t have to rely on humans so much. And if we never wanted to leave then we wouldn’t have to, everything’s available on line.”

“You’ve been thinking about this,” said Ted.  
  
“Why here though?” mused Cody. “Not that I mind it, I’m just curious. And the internet and twenty-four hour shopping were around ten years ago too, longer probably, so why not settle down then?”

Evan shrugged. “Habit maybe. I know that they were wandering around for a long time before that. Or perhaps they were looking for the right place. Most of the country _is_ paved over now and it’s not like places like this are common. Hell, who knows that we won’t have a few low-cost apartment blocks overlooking the windows in a few years?”

Ted looked distinctly uncomfortable about this. “If there was people that close, they probably _would_ notice.”

“There won’t be,” Cody said to him reassuringly, pleased that Ted seemed to have entirely forgotten his faux pas earlier. “Randy’d probably buy up all the land around here before that could happen. I think he likes the idea of staying put for a while.”

“It’s strange,” said Ted thoughtfully. “Y’know, thinking that they’ve all been around for so long. Not just ten years but a couple hundred.”

“It shows sometimes though,” said Cody. “When they talk or sometimes when they mention stuff that’s happened.”

Evan grinned wickedly. “I’ll bet I can get one of them to say ‘when I was young’ before you can.”  
  
“What’re you betting?” asked Cody.

Ted glanced between the two with interest, guessing correctly that it wasn’t the first time the pair had made friendly bets between one another about little things. Evan opened his mouth to suggest that the loser run naked through the house then thought better of it; if Cody lost then Ted might well react badly to the thought of his lover being on display to everyone, especially given that they were all prone to making lewd, teasing comments about one another. “Loser has to get a story from someone about when they were human.”

“No fair, you’ll just ask Chris.”

“And you’ll just get Ted,” Evan replied. “How about we say no mates allowed?”

“Deal.” Cody laughed. “All that talk about being human got me sorta intrigued. I’m surprised they can even remember.”

“You wanna make a start on them now?”

Cody glanced at Ted quickly, wondering if he should make the other go down and face everyone or if he should leave it. No one was likely to draw attention to his behaviour, they’d all been there, but he didn’t want to push Ted too fast. Ted hadn’t had a _temper_ exactly and he had never resorted to violence, but he did let himself get frustrated and there was nothing more frustrating than re-learning how to appear human. He had to expect little outbursts. When Ted looked slightly wary, Cody decided to take the middle road. “We’ll do it in a bit. Remember, it doesn’t count unless we’re both there.”

“I know, I know.” Evan glanced over at Ted. “Hey Ted? Chris taught me this great technique for remembering to move a little and I’ll bet Cody doesn’t know it—“

“Why wouldn’t Chris teach me?”

“Because that was Randy’s job,” replied Evan. “And apparently the moving thing was the part Chris had the most problem remembering at first. Everything else about appearances was fine but for some reason the normal human tics just eluded him. So he started kinda making guitar chords on one hand—“  
  
“Air guitar?” Cody sniggered. “I bet that was fun in the shower.”  
  
“Not air guitar, asshole. You chord with your left hand, so his fingers just twitched.” Evan looked back at Ted. “See, humans twitch all the time. They stretch, or they blink or yawn or pull faces or snap their knuckles or whatever. If you’re _too_ still it’s really obvious, but if you move a little bit then it makes you look more human, even if no one’s really noticing you twitch. It’s more noticeable when you don’t.”

Ted looked blank. “I need to develop a tic? I don’t play the guitar.”

“So, we find something more you. It’s cool, we’ll get to it.” Evan grinned widely. “That’s the part I had the least trouble with. I was always a fidget.”

~:~

It was strange to be outside after so long. Well, it was strange to be outside after so long somewhere that _wasn’t_ on the manor grounds, Ted thought to himself with a soft, nostalgic smile as he leant against the upper-branches of the tree on the outskirts of what was now his elder brother’s house. Mike, his wife and children, and Brett and his husband (yes, colour Ted shocked to hear _that_ with his acute hearing when they’d scoped the place out) and their newly adopted baby daughter.

“This is so _Twilight_ of us,” murmured a voice from his side and Ted turned his head to smile at Cody softly, his lover standing on another sturdy branch just beside him. “Blame Shawn, he was the one who made me watch the series,” Ted returned softly, watching as his parents joined into the fray. Sure, considering they had three grown up children, neither was especially young anymore, but even from this distance Ted could see age catching them now, slowly but surely.

It was odd, especially since Ted knew he didn’t look a day older than the last time they had seen him… almost four years ago now. Cody tutted softly and then chuckled, “I knew it was him that had those DVDs stashed with the others… he blamed Evan for it.” Cody reached, lightly jumping to Ted’s branch and standing behind him, arms going around him. He wasn’t afraid of falling, and even if he did it wasn’t as though he’d be too hurt. “Are you OK, Teddy?” Cody asked him gently after several long moments of silence between the two of them. He could feel his mate’s emotions, sure, but it wasn’t the same as Ted confirming one way or another.

Reaching one of his hands to rest atop Cody’s clasped around his middle Ted nodded his blonde head slowly, smiling softly as he watched Mike trying to stop two of his kids fighting as Brett bounced his little girl atop his knee, laughing at something his partner said, that man’s hand resting on his shoulder in the same way he recognised as the subconscious desire for constant contact with your lover. “I’m really OK,” Ted responded softly, knowing that Cody was worried about him. Hell, he had been worried about _himself_ since he had finally been granted permission to be out around humans, out around his _family_ though he couldn’t approach.

He’d been so scared that all of his hard work, his years of learning, would come to naught when confronted with his family, the people who he used to be so close to. He didn’t know what it was about confronting his family that made him more uneasy than the prospect of confronting humanity in general, but it had been something that he had been seriously concerned about for the past few weeks. More than once Cody had told him they could push it back, that they knew where all of Ted’s family lived so that there was no rush… but Ted felt enough time was enough. even if it was only once more he wanted to see his family.

And, apparently quite amazingly, he had convinced Cody that they should go and check in on his family afterwards. When he had found out from Christian that Cody hadn’t gone back to see his family, that Ted had been his first and only priority in the outside world (though he had asked some of the others to go by and see how they were, though he wasn’t expecting too much admittedly because he knew his parents at least would still be trapped in grief at the time) Ted had confronted Cody and insisted that enough time had passed and that Cody had to do this. Initially Cody had resisted but Ted had broken him down.

The urge to go down there, to talk to his family and see the newest additions as well as his nieces and nephews already in existence, was strong, but Ted felt quite comfortable as he rejected it. Just seeing that they were all healthy and happy was enough--- though he could see that there was something not quite _right_ in his father’s expression, and the same emotion showed in his mother’s eyes whenever she thought someone wasn’t looking. It wasn’t until afterwards that Ted realised that that was probably because of him. Despite his lack of communication they emailed him regularly, imploring him to get in touch and wishing him health and happiness.

As they settled down to what seemed to be Mike’s annual BBQ (an event that he and Cody had actually attended with one another way back when) Ted then turned his head and met Cody’s eyes. “We should get going,” he spoke softly, brushing his lips against Cody’s; it was already getting on in the afternoon and they still had a bit of travelling to do before they would find Cody’s family. That and they needed to back at the manor before sunrise otherwise they would both be dust in the wind before they knew what hit them. Cody was visibly apprehensive for a moment but then he nodded, releasing Ted after returning his kiss.

They made short work of jumping down from the old, sturdy tree, and then they walked back to where their car was parked in a secluded and out of the way layby a few minutes away. It may have been over-cautious on Ted’s part but he hadn’t wanted to run the risk even slightly that he would end up seeing some of his family members. If they saw him then everything would fall apart. The walk back to the car was quiet, but not uncomfortably so, their hands linked between them and lazily swaying as they walked along leisurely. As they settled into the car and Cody started the engine, Ted’s mobile began to ring in his pocket.

Glancing at Cody, Ted pulled the phone from his pocket, still pouting a little at the fact he was sat in the passenger seat. For all he had learned control in a lot of things he was still, as Cody affectionately claimed, a ‘speed-demon’ behind the wheel so he wasn’t exactly permitted to drive just yet. In Ted’s defence he would have sworn that that building hadn’t been there when he had first turned off the road. Anyway, he was currently relegated to passenger and it seemed like it’d be that way for a while. Pressing the button to answer the call Ted then held the phone to his ear. He listened for a while, answered in the affirmative and then hung up.

“Evan’s nicked your Zelda game,” he told Cody, the other swearing lightly, turning and reversing from their ‘hiding spot’. “I haven’t even played it yet!” Cody growled, and then smirked, “Actually, that has to be a lie… even he won’t figure out where I’ve hidden it.” Ted chuckled slightly before then saying, “He wanted to know how it went… and he said good luck,” he added, reaching across the console and reaching a hand to rest on Cody’s knee. Cody smiled softly, though Ted could sense his underlying anxiety. The guilt of what his death might have done to his family, much like what it had done to Ted, had been weighing heavily on Cody’s mind.

~:~

Ted settled back in the seat, mulling over how he felt now he had actually seen his family. Yeah, the guilt was still there but he was reassured now that he had seen for himself that they hadn’t fallen apart without him, that they seemed to be pulling along together just fine. They had been close knit but they had known what losing Cody had done to him – he thought that if they knew about the second chance he’d been given with the love of his life, they would support him. Assuming his dad didn’t have one of his fits and go all Buffy on their asses. He was slightly conflicted; a part of him sad that he wasn’t a part of that anymore and never could be again, but for the most part that view of them from the outside looking in had reassured him. He had managed to keep up with them after a fashion thanks to asking a couple of favours from the elder vampires and social networking, but it wasn’t the same as seeing for himself.

He knew that so far Cody had resisted seeing his own family, citing that he was in a different position to Ted. His family knew he was out there somewhere; Cody’s family thought him long dead. Six years now. Cody should be over thirty, perhaps getting a paunch or losing his hair (although Ted suspected that Cody would have retained his hair and worked like a demon to make sure no fat ever made its home on his abs). He didn’t have to ask whether or not Cody was afraid to see how his family were coping without him, he could feel it through their bond. He wasn’t sure though whether Cody was worried they had fallen apart or whether they had been entirely unaffected by his passing. Ted had told him it wasn’t true and they had been devastated, but sometimes those thoughts crept in. Ted knew that they did for himself as well. That was part of the reason he thought it would do Cody good to at least see them. Cody had been mourned but he knew his lover would prefer they hadn’t mourned forever.

Cody’s parents hadn’t lived too far from Ted’s and the drive didn’t take all that long, although Ted still thought they could have made it faster if Cody had let him take the wheel. Then again, Ted was a lot less accomplished at bending humans to his will, not that he’d had a lot of practice at that kind of thing. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to talk himself out of a speeding ticket.

The Rhodes family lived in a decent sized house with a big front garden but unlike the DiBiase’s there were no trees for them to hide up. They parked the car some distance from the house and Cody murmured quietly to Ted that they could duck into some bushes – they wouldn’t have been able to see well into the house had they been human but sharpened senses meant they would have a better chance. Nodding, Ted practically vanished into the shadows as he sped to the spot Cody had suggested. Cody let him go first, admiring the way Ted moved. He might not be very good at working his will on people but when it came to stalking, Ted was a natural predator. Not that he had ever needed to use those skills in the practical sense, his only sources of food were the packets that they still hoarded in the same fridge, and the blood of his lover.

Ted gave Cody a rather questioning look when his sire arrived at the same bush a moment after he did but Cody merely gave the slightest shake of his head. He was hesitant, almost sure that this was a very bad idea. What the hell could he achieve with this, after all these years? But since he had gotten Ted back, he had realised that it hadn’t just been his lover that he had missed since he died, it was just that the need for Ted overshadowed every other emotion he had. With that longing sated, he had been able to feel the loss of his family too and while he couldn’t have them with him the way he had Ted, it _would_  be nice to know that they were doing okay, see them with his own eyes. But he was… well, scared. How much would his father have aged? Would his mother have bowed beneath the weight of sorrow at losing her child? What might have happened to his brother and sister? His nieces and nephews?

Ted reached out and took his hand and Cody flashed him a smile of pure gratitude. Ted hadn’t forced him to do this but he had indicated that it would be a very good idea, pushed him gently into making the decision. That didn’t mean he didn’t know how much it scared Cody to be in this position.

“I feel like a peeping tom,” bitched Cody.

“Oh hush.” Ted raised himself up a little and glanced through the window, not that it was easy to see even with their advanced sight. The angles were all wrong and for a moment he thought that they had wasted their time, or that they would have to get closer and risk being seen. Cody’s father had taken comfort in food following his son’s death and was packing far too much extra meat; Ted didn’t want Cody to have the man’s heart attack on his conscience.

And then Dusty walked into their view, passing by the window with a glass in his hand. He had noticeably aged and for a moment Cody tensed, squeezing Ted’s hand so tight that he almost complained but managed to hold his tongue; he would heal. He always did.

Dusty didn’t look toward the window at all but he did pause, the rather wistful look that had been on his face changing into a smile as he did something that neither one of them could make out before heading out of their sight. Cody half-rose, trying to keep his father in his sight and then shook his head. “I can’t—“

There was a sudden movement at the window and a small face popped into view from below the sill. Suddenly it all fell into place for both vampires, Dusty had apparently stopped to ruffle the kids hair or perhaps just to ask why he was up so late – the Rhodes were apparently babysitting or maybe Cody’s sister was in the kitchen talking to her mother. Unhidden, Cody froze in place and stared at the kid – he was one of them alright, a hundred per cent Rhodes with so many of the facial features that he shared with his siblings and father. Ted had never mentioned this one but Cody had seen a couple of mentions on the social network that his name had not been removed from in spite of his demise, the child had been born after he died and after Ted had come to him. Three years old maybe and as soon as he laid eyes on the man outside his face broke into a toothy smile.

_“Uncle Cody!”_

The excited shout reached their ears only by virtue of its volume and their advanced hearing. Ted reacted on instinct, grabbing Cody’s arm and yanking him back down behind the bush, knowing that back in the day his heart would have been pounding like crazy. The last thing they needed was for Dusty to come out investigating.

Peering through the leaves, Cody watched as Dusty came to the window. They were too far to hear the rather more quiet conversation that ensued but the young boy was pointing outside, jabbering excitedly to his grandfather who looked both amused and rather saddened. After a couple of minutes of the boy unsuccessfully trying to persuade his grandfather that Cody was really outside, Dusty picked the child up and carried him away from the window, both of them going out of sight.

Cody realised just how hard he was holding Ted’s hand – had the man been human then the bones would have been ground into powder – and eased up his grip, eyes still rather wide. “He knew who I was…”

“You thought maybe they wouldn’t tell him?”

When Cody hesitated, Ted smiled softly back at him. “They love you Cody. They’d want him to know who you were and what you meant to them.”

“Still, I wasn’t expecting that.” Cody waited a moment until he was sure that he wasn’t about to be seen, then grabbed Ted’s hand again to lead him away from the house. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Ted nodded, the two of them slipping into the shadows and although Cody didn’t talk about it on the drive back, Ted knew that a part of Cody that had always been questioning had been soothed. It was nice to know that they were gone, but not forgotten. And the world had kept on going just fine without them being a part of it.

~:~

It was good to wake up in the same place every night.

John had never thought that he wanted a home during the years he had wandered. Not only would he have not dared settle down for long enough to make one, well aware that Dave didn’t like being defied and John had, in his mind, committed the ultimate betrayal by leaving, but there had never really been a _need_ for him to stay in one place. He had hundreds of years to think about standing still, or so he had told himself on the occasions he had considered it. But meeting up with Randy again, falling in love with him, that had made him want to stay by the man’s side and since Randy seemed content to stay where he was and with Dave out of the way, John thought he could get used to it. In fact he had done more than merely gotten used to it, he had grown to really appreciate the simple pleasures of having a base, somewhere that was a sanctuary, the place he called home.

It didn’t hurt of course that it was where Randy was and although John thought he could leave the manor that night with only a pang of regret at the memories within the walls, he would never be able to function without Randy with him. As much as they teased and bickered, the differences in their experiences and outlook, they were made for one another. It was something that made John speculate about fate and whether they had been pulled into vampire life for that reason alone. They would never have been together otherwise under any circumstances, could never even have met since Randy had been born long after John’s death.

Currently Randy was swimming, doing length after length in their pool. His tattoos seemed to stand out more against the wet skin of his back and had John been able he would have just shed his own clothes and dived in, wrestled Randy for dominance beneath the water until he was able to push his mate against the side of the pool and take him, let his tongue chase the droplets of water running over the corded muscles of his damp neck…

“John?”

John glanced over at Evan, who was grinning at him over the screen of the laptop. It seemed that the youngster had guessed exactly what John had been daydreaming about and John shifted a little to disguise the tent in his shorts. Deniability, that was the important thing. “Sorry Ev, I uh, I’ve always loved the view from in here.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re loving the view,” said Evan with clear double meaning. The pool was located in a conservatory style addition to the manor and the glass walls showed the beautifully manicured gardens, the full moon hanging in the cloudless sky. The glass meant that they had to wait until full dark to use the pool but that was fine, the construction meant that the stored heat from the day was as close to sunlight as any of them were ever likely to get ever again.

John cleared his throat, trying not to let his attention wander to the tattooed arms flashing out of the water. “Where was I?”

“Um…” Evan checked his machine. “Before you were transfixed ogling my grandsire? You were telling me more about the rumours you heard about ‘Taker when you were part of his clan.”  
  
“Right.” John gathered himself mentally and continued, knowing that Randy was not just swimming for the hell of it but giving John enough room to talk without being too far away in case he was needed. But it was fine, John didn’t mind talking about the rumours with his family. Some of the things he knew though… those things he was reluctant to share even with Randy if he could avoid thinking about the topic and he knew he would never tell them to Evan. Some things were best left unremembered.

He wasn’t at all sure when Evan had decided it was important to have some kind of history for them. What he did know was that Ted had been trying to make sense of the few written histories they’d had in the house and found it heavy going, confusing and archaic with the important information all but buried in the old language and apparent trivialities. Evan had hit upon the idea of updating the information they had in case there were others after them or even somewhere out in the world who had the same kinds of struggles as they had sometimes faced and had spent quite a bit of free time doing his research, rewriting the books and updating the information within them so that it had the new things they had learned in there too, along with some anecdotes and observations of his own. It had taken a long time but their species had plenty of that and he had eventually finished and been more than pleased with the results, and the reaction of the rest of the clan. He had claimed to miss writing when the project was finished and that the clans’ histories were for his own benefit. Personally John wondered if Evan was trying to find out more about their already long lives, or make some kind of record in case they started to forget.

He’d also decided that he should put some kind of history of the ‘Taker in there, what was rumoured and known about his clan and his past and for that, Evan needed John’s input more than anyone else. John was happy enough to share some of his stories about the other, but there were many of his own experiences when it came to his interaction with Kane and his childe that he planned to keep private.

None of them had heard from ‘Taker since the night he had rode out, once Dave had been disposed of. They hadn’t heard from Kane at all and John would be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved – and wary. ‘Taker would hold Kane back he was certain, but he knew that the sociopath that was his sire’s brother wouldn’t forget. Not ever.

Evan typed rapidly as John spoke, half lost in his own memories that had a healthy chunk of imagination going for them – he hadn’t been there for the apparent war that had happened between the two brothers after all and those that had been weren’t always willing to share more than a snippet of their stories. But he gave Evan what he could as he sat on one of the chairs beside the pool, trying to keep his eyes from his lover. After a while, Chris strolled into the room and glanced over at them, giving Evan an affectionate look before sprawling some distance from them, starting to fiddle with his iPod. After all this time Chris still loved his music, second only to Evan. John supposed it was a sign of progress that Chris felt able to head off out alone if he needed to and let Evan do the same, although he relaxed more if his mate went out with Cody and Ted and still more if the older among them accompanied him. He had no idea how much of Chris’s overprotectiveness stemmed from the night Chris had tried to attack Evan while in thrall to his feral side but at least he was learning to loosen his hold.

After awhile Randy headed for the side of the pool and hauled himself out, the sight of his muscular chest and the water streaming from it making John lose his train of thought again. He shot John a look that suggested he knew _exactly_ what his mate was thinking before calling over to Chris. “Hey, Jericho.”

There was no response from Chris, who was clearly lost in some tune. John could faintly hear it even from his distance, what Chris playfully termed ‘rahg’ music, hardcore metal. Chris would give any kind of music a chance but John would never understand what he enjoyed about the guttural anger of a bunch of hair-whipping tattoo collectors… not that he was in a position to criticise that last part. Strangely enough Randy loved that kind of music too and John had suffered through plenty of it. John’s taste leaned more toward gangsta rap, something that filled Randy with horror and the musical differences had led to plenty of good-natured arguments between the couple.

Randy headed over and gave the lead of Chris’s headphones a tug that pulled them right out of his ears. “HEY! JERICHO!”

Jericho glared. “What? I was listening to that!”

Randy ignored the protests. “Where is everyone?”

“Cody and Ted went to check on the family,” replied Chris, although he was pretty sure Randy already knew that and would be concerned enough to worry, while not wanting to actively discourage it. “Uh, Adam and Christian are watching some band in the city and probably going out afterwards. Shawn and Hunter went for a drive.”

Randy snorted. “A drive, right.” Rolling his shoulders out, he headed over to where John and Evan were and Evan took it as his cue to close his laptop. “I can write this up and we can get to the rest later in the week,” he said, standing up and winking at the pair. “Let’s see if I can compete with Chris’s beloved music.”

He went over to his lover, who willingly abandoned his iPod to follow Evan from the poolside. Watching them leave, John had one of the little flights of fancy that were relatively common to him since he had settled with the clan and gotten to know them all; he saw Evan as he might have been had he been allowed to age as a human would, six or seven years older than he looked and worn down by a lifetime of menial labour in unsociable hours that he was really too smart to be happy in. That aura of happiness wouldn’t be with him either; Chris would have been dead for decades had Randy not intervened and the two would have been separated by more than age, distance or social status. He rarely imagined his former clan in the same way, perhaps because his youth back then had made it hard for him to see them as anything other than vampires.

“Everything okay?” asked Randy, taking Evan’s vacated seat and getting it wet – he never bothered to towel off after a swim. He hardly had to worry about catching a cold.

“Yeah,” said John with a smile. “Just thinking. It’s funny how things turn out sometimes.”

“True,” said Randy, his own mind going back a moment to how he would never have seen things this way ten years before, when he hadn’t been living long in the manor. He had always assumed that had he found his sire he would kill him – instead he had bonded with him. Things did work out oddly sometimes but mostly it was for the best and Randy didn’t like to dwell on thoughts of things beyond his control.

Especially when there was so much that was _within_ his control.

He grinned at John, winking rather salaciously. “You wanna come for a swim?”

“Hmmm…” A matching smile spread across John’s face, showing his dimples. “I could be persuaded.”

“So you getting naked or do I have to throw you in fully dressed—“  
  
Randy cut himself off as the phone he had left on the pile of clothes beside John’s seat began to ring. Through their bond John felt his sudden spike of worry – Cody and Ted were on his mates mind, wondering if something had gone wrong – but the caller ID showed neither of them and Randy’s relief overcame both of them. Not that Randy would have admitted to either emotion but with John, he didn’t have to.

John snagged the phone and pressed the speaker rather than let Randy risk getting it too wet, although it wasn’t much of a danger. Randy made a motion for John to remove his clothes even while he spoke to the machine. “Justin, what the hell? I didn’t even know you _could_ change back during a full moon…”

There was an odd noise at the other end of the line, not one that John was used to hearing but he placed it right away; some canine sounds of communication, growls and huffs. It was no good to him though, he didn’t understand and it seemed that Randy didn’t either. He had however stopped trying to get John to give him a striptease. “Justin? Change back to human.”

The voice was a command but that had never worked with any species other than human. Still, the volume of the voice and the order had perhaps spoken to something in Justin that responded to the voice of an alpha, even if it wasn’t _his_ alpha. There was a pause, a heavy exhalation and then a guttural voice that didn’t sound much like Justin at all. _“Wade. Park.”_

“The park?”

Randy didn’t get an answer beyond a whine that suggested Justin hadn’t been able to hang on to human for more than a few seconds. But the park in the opposite direction to the city made sense; beside it were woods and plenty of running space for a full-grown wolf wanting to let off steam, or even a pack of them. Rolling his eyes, Randy reached for his jeans. “We’re on our way. Sit tight and stay on the line.” Not that he was sure that paws were useful to end a call, perhaps Justin had managed to change previously long enough to use the voice commands on his phone or there was some emergency button that he had managed with the tip of his nose. Randy rarely bothered to wonder how werewolves did anything.

“Cockblocked by a damned werewolf,” he bitched as he put his clothes on, John already ready to go along with him. They had time to get to where Justin was and back again before sunrise, although he would just have to come back to the manor because he wasn’t about to risk getting caught in the sun for anyone, not so much for him as for John. “If Wade’s got himself caught in some damned rabbit snare and Justin called to get him out of it, I’m gonna whack his snout with a rolled up newspaper.”

“Vampires helping werewolves,” chuckled John, checking to see if he had any of his car keys on him. Nope, they’d have to grab a set as they went to the garage. “Hollywood’d hate it.”  
  
“Hollywood can suck my dick,” replied Randy as they went through toward the back of the manor and the large garage. “I just hope that the others don’t find out about it.”

“What, that you have some compassion? They already know.” John caught Randy’s hand as they hurried through the house, not going as fast as they were able but moving more quickly than a human would be able to see. “Let’s get this dealt with so we can come home and get that swim.”

Randy appeared determined to sulk though. “And if we _don’t_ get back in time, what am I supposed to do then?”

“Don’t be so damned impatient.” John stopped a moment, their joined hands meaning that Randy was forced to do the same, taking a moment to rest his hand on the back of Randy’s neck and kiss him, smirking a little as he realised his fangs were far more interested in making an appearance than he had realised. But that kind of thing would just have to wait. “We’ve got plenty of time babe. We’ll still be here tomorrow.”


End file.
